A message to freshmen on procrastination

Cindy Cuadra/Staff Writer

With each new school year that rolls around, a new wave of freshmen are welcomed into the Panther family. As part of their orientation, freshmen learn everything they need to start this new and exciting chapter in their life.

An important piece of advice I learned from peer advisors, professors and administration was to avoid procrastination.

The American Psychological Association published a study conducted by Florida State University which found that procrastinating takes a toll on students’ mental health and well-being.

According to the APA, the University of Calgary did a meta-analysis in 2007 which found that 80 to 95 percent of college students procrastinate, especially when given homework.

Procrastination has never held a positive connotation. So why do students still procrastinate?

DePaul University psychology professor, Joseph Ferrari, found that some students get a rush from working under pressure and they believe that is when their best work is done. However, contrary to what students believe, Ferrari’s experimental data proved otherwise.

“Students seem to remember the one time that maybe waiting until the last minute did pay off with a good grade, but they forget the other nine times when it didn’t,” Ferrari said to the APA.

It’s important for incoming freshmen to realize that procrastination just won’t cut it in college, like it did in high school.

When I was a freshmen at FIU, I remember thinking that high school was much easier because we had an entire year to learn a subject. However in college, everything is crammed into 16 weeks, at most, and the transition is exhausting enough without adding the stress of procrastination.

After all, GPAs drop faster than they rise and your freshman year GPA sets the tone for the rest of your college career.

Understandably, students can get caught up with life and get overwhelmed with classes. Some things that incoming freshmen can do in order to avoid the stress of procrastination include organizing your priorities, learning to manage your time wisely and always putting what you have to do over what you want to do.

Many resources are also available on campus, one being the free planners offered to every student at the beginning of each semester to help keep up with schoolwork and events on campus. Using the study rooms in the Green Library is another great method to avoid procrastination because it eliminates any distractions that may prevent students from getting their work done on time.

For the times when procrastination does take a toll on students’ mental health and well-being, and they find themselves feeling very anxious and overwhelmed, there are services on campus, namely the Counseling and Psychological Services in the FIU Student Health Center, that help students get back on track and not let the stresses of college overwhelm them.

College is a time to learn and develop character and it’s the transition that welcomes you into the so-called real world. It’s the place you enter as a teenager and leave as an educated adult.

Part of that transition is learning to make decisions that are not always the ones you want to make, for instance staying in to study for an exam on a weekend instead of going out to a party.

Incoming freshmen and current students as well should enjoy the unique experience that college offers, but never forget their priorities. Ultimately, college leads you to the things you want to do only if you do the things you need to do, first.

 

Disclaimer:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of FIU Student Media Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

 

Image retrieved from Flickr.

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