Stay on target
Stephany Harrington, Columnist
There truly is no greater satisfaction than finishing an assignment. Well, that’s definitely not true, but it still feels pretty excellent. Outlining a huge chapter for three or four hours makes my eyes tired and my hand cramp. I blink more than normal just to keep my contacts from drying out and shake my hand out every now and then just to relieve the stress on my wrists and fingers.
Getting in the zone while reading, I fly through the pages, not realizing how fast I am processing the information. And then there are also other times when I am flying through the pages, but then I stop suddenly and realize I haven’t been reading them at all, but instead just looking at the words while thinking of something else. I am thinking, when am I going to lunch? Who am I eating with? Should I text them to remind that we made lunch plans? What am I doing after lunch? More homework? That’s gross. I wish I could just hang out instead. Hm I think I will. What shows haven’t I watched this week? Game of Thrones? Law and Order: SVU? Parks and Recreation? No, wait. I can’t watch those yet. I didn’t finish my Harry Potter marathon from last weekend. Harry Potter takes precedence. Clearly. Okay, the Battle of Hogwarts totally left the castle in ruins.
And then something clicks. Ruins. I am supposed to be reading about the destruction that occurred as a result of the Civil War. So I’ve read five whole information-loaded pages about the ruins of the Civil War, but my internal thoughts were leading me astray. Distractions lead to abundant learning struggles, and that just tacks on more hours that I have to stay in the library and work.
Luckily, those intense moments of distraction do not happen very often. I’ve trained my mind to just separate all of those things for later, and my homework for the here and now. Because, like I said, finishing an assignment is so very satisfying. Turning the page to reveal that final paragraph fills me with so much hope. And writing that last note, letting my eyes wander over that last sentence is heavenly. And then finally it all becomes real when I close the cap of my pen and enthusiastically close the pages of the book.
Done.
And just like that, the assignment is finished and there is a brief reprieve from all of the work. It’s something I can check of my “To Do” list. Then I can finally focus on what’s really important. Food and television shows. Oh but wait, let me check my syllabi to make sure they will allow me to take this break.
And then my heart breaks because my worst fears have been realized. I’ve only checked off a small assignment compared to my many others that will undoubtedly crush my hopes and dreams. Oh yeah, there are those five million pages I have to read. How could I have forgotten?
Nope. Not done.
