While it is true that everyone procrastinates, it seems to be getting worse, especially within the teen society, I being no exception. I am currently writing this article past when it was due, and while I got an extension and cannot remember the last time I turned in an article late, my procrastination seems to have gotten out of hand. I applied to colleges within a timely manner and applied for major scholarships. The local scholarships our school gives out are being applied for currently and, in all honesty, I have not applied for a single one yet. The applications are sitting in my room as I type, late April and early May deadlines typed across the top of the papers, yet I have not started a single one. The real question is why?
Some of the blame certainly goes to senioritis, but how does one stop that? I have always been a good student and cared about grades, and I want as many scholarships as possible for college (debt is not fun), but why is it that I can’t bring myself to write my essay sooner than the night before it is due? I have always been one to wait till the last minute to do things, and I have never missed a deadline for school, but when I look at the clock it keeps getting later and later as I work, showing my procrastination more and more.
While there are ways to cure procrastination, many teens find themselves procrastinating too much to cure it or not caring enough to. It sounds bad, but sometimes it takes reality biting you in the butt to take care of these things. My other fellow AP Literature students and I received this a while ago when we all realized we were failing English because we all “forgot” to read. While some of us did read, many of us did not and it came back to punish us. We found our grades lower than we had ever seen them, and we had to fight to get our grades back.
Procrastination is a natural thing; work ethic is something that not everyone is blessed with. In something people are passionate about it is often there, but it can be hard to keep all around. Personally, I think procrastination comes from lack of punishment. Not that procrastinating should necessarily receive a punishment, if you make your deadlines with good work and quality, but when the procrastination becomes too much and work goes down hill, it is often because we have never been punished for lack of quality in our work. Whether it is from a teacher who grades easily or deadlines that keep being pushed back so everyone can get stuff in “on time,” when procrastination keeps being allowed, it will continue to get worse. While procrastination is not always bad, (Many times it is done for the sanity of the person, a night out with friends to keep you mentally healthy instead of in your room slaving over an essay.), it can get out of hand. That is when it needs to be fixed, and often times the only way to do that is with a swift kick of reality.