The end of first quarter is approaching fast, but first, a day more dreadful. Friday, October 18th, has come and past, and with that date, several components of senior projects are due. For some, this date may not be a big deal, however for procrastinators such as myself, this day brings an onslaught of heavy stress.
Senior project-- no big deal, right? Wrong. Yes, you have essentially the entire year for this one project, and once it gets rolling, it tends to come together nicely, but there is certainly a catch to this. Each quarter, there is one date on which every piece of work for that quarter is due, and if you do not have it in by that day, and F sits on your transcript until the next quarter is graded. The problem with this is, though the F can be corrected at a later date, every college you apply to will see this failed grade and it will work against you.
The biggest obstacle of senior project for the first quarter is coming up with a topic you are willing to work with for the entire year. I overcame this obstacle quickly, deciding to write a concept EP for my AOK, and soon thereafter developed my essential question: "How does one write an EP with music that focuses on one concept?" I felt great after deciding this topic and put my feet up for the rest of the quarter. This smooth sailing came to a screeching halt when Columbus Day Weekend came along.
I was reminded by a friend that I needed three pieces of research, an annotated bibliography, a journal of my quarter 1 experience, and a proposal written and uploaded on my SPOP by the next Friday right before leaving for the joyous four day weekend. I soon began to panic. It was not that much work, but knowing my normal work ethic, I knew I was likely to put it off for even longer. Even more importantly, the brand new Pokemon games, X and Y, were coming out the next day and I had planned on dedicating my four days of vacation entirely to playing that. I promised myself I would sit down and work on it Saturday before beginning to play the game.
It may come as a shock to you, but I had not begun work on senior project by the time Sunday rolled around. I knew I had no time on Sunday, for I had to dedicate my day to making my mother a birthday card. So I planned to work on Monday. Monday came and went, and I had spent the day playing video games and practicing with my friend for the talent show, and of course had not worked on my senior project.
Tuesday. It was supposed to be the day. It was my last chance to utilize my four day weekend for my incomplete work. I sat down with my laptop, opened my SPOP, and then stared at my computer screen for 10 minutes. It's only 10 am. I don't need to start until after noon, really, I thought to myself, pulling out my DS to play more Pokemon.
I woke up at 3 am on Wednesday morning in a panic. I had forgotten something, hadn't I?
Oh yes-- my Senior Project. Uh oh.
Luckily, it being my senior year, I have several free blocks. My Advanced Writing class had given me the brilliant idea to ask the librarians for assistance with research when stuck, so I did just that. Thursday morning, I went in during first block and spent the entire period with the head librarian, and together we found three valuable sources. I had now cleared the second largest obstacle. It was an easy jog to the end now.
Yes, my procrastination caused me to finish within the last few minutes before the due date, but the important thing is that I got the work finished on time. Hopefully, I have learned from my mistakes, but I can not guarantee anything. I just hope that no amazing video games are released at the same time as the second quarter due date. If any are, I can't promise that I'll meet the due date again.
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