Victor Cerda

11/15/2008

Be Wise--Don’t Procrastinate

First-time students who come to a community college, such as Gavilan, take the decision of coming for many reasons. Perhaps they didn’t get accepted where they wanted to go, or maybe they couldn’t afford to pay tuition, since they didn’t get any scholarships. Maybe they decided to stay in a community college because it was more economically convenient for them. Whatever the reason, they are here, and they are either planning to transfer or get their general education done. However, many of these people procrastinate in turning their work in on time. That causes many students to fail and repeat many classes.

As a first-time student here in Gavilan College, I decided to be enrolled because I was not able to afford tuition to go to San Francisco State University. At first I didn’t like the idea of coming to a community college because I was going to be close to home, and I wanted to get as far as possible. However, as I started to look more into coming to Gavilan Community College I liked the idea because I was going to be able to work, be in school, and save money for a car. I thought that by working full time and coming to school I would save enough money so whenever I had the chance to transfer to another college I wanted to I had the money. At the same time I would be helping my parents with their financial needs. Little did I know that my dreams were about to change because of the amount of time I had to spend in doing the homework.

All the plans sounded good until I started to work two jobs. One was with VF Corporation Company. When I first started, I was hired as a part-time sales associate. However, instead of working twenty or twenty-five hours I was working more than thirty-five hours a week because I started in what they called “the good season.” I never complained because they were giving me too many hours, instead I was happy because I thought that the more I worked the more money I would save.  I knew that by working more I was going to have more money to help my parents in the basic needs at home. Also I could have money for myself. I knew that if I complained or requested to receive few hours I was not going to be able to have saved enough money for my car, therefore I never complained and I was always available to work.

My second job was at a fast food restaurant in which I only worked for at twenty to twenty-five hours a week. In both jobs combined I was putting at least sometimes fifty or fifty-five hours a week.  As I saw my paychecks, I motivated myself everyday to work more or work as harder in order to save up for my car, but unfortunately when my dad got fired from his job I was the only one who was bringing money to the house. It was extremely difficult to be the supporter of a family of six. The money that I brought home was not enough to pay the financial needs, and I was taking eleven units. Therefore, my mother seeing these circumstances started to work to help the family.

The motivation and the desire to continuing with my education is so big that working fifty to seventy hours, and sleeping only five to six hours a day to get good grades it was rewarding once I saw the results. Working so much and having school every day was extremely challenging. Believe it or not it takes a lot of time and dedication to multi-task. The dedication to have a degree is something I had, however finding time to do all my homework, and study for quizzes has been hard because I have to spend my time wisely.

At the beginning of the semester I had procrastinated because I didn’t know how to spend my time wisely. I was taking eleven units. I had my FYE class only Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:45 to twelve forty five. FYE is First Year Experience, which consisted of English 250 and English 260. Both classes were combined to help students improved in  their writing and reading skills. Also I was taking Math 233 that I had Tuesdays at eight in the morning followed by an English lab, being done for the day at ten forty-five. On Thursdays I only had math that started at eight in the morning and was over at nine thirty. Finally Fridays I had math that started at eight in the morning and I was done at ten thirty in the morning.

The first two weeks I would wait until the last minute to do my homework because I put the excuse of, “I just got out of work. I am too tired, I will do my homework tomorrow," but once a new day bega,n I was extremely stressed by the amount of homework that was given to me. I had so little amount of time to do so much homework that sometimes I would leave my homework incomplete hoping the professors wouldn’t notice. When I didn’t finish my homework or didn’t do it I would just scribble the answers as quickly as I could before the classes started so I wouldn’t get marked down for not doing my homework. As the third week came I started to notice that my grades that I was getting back from my papers where “B’s.” They were not a bad grade, but I knew that I was able to do way better if I focus more in doing my homework the day that it was assigned. Unfortunately I didn’t take action right away, until in my English class I received a big fat “F” for a test. The worst part was that it was root words that I knew since my senior year. I just didn’t take time to review them.

That’s when I knew that I was working more than I could handle. Finding time in my schedule to do homework was not easy. I didn’t know how to expend my time wisely. I had never had to worry about such things because I always had time on my hands to do something, but not know I had responsibilities. Making room to do homework was not easy since I would wake up at six in the morning to get ready for school. However, I only woke up early on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays because I had to catch a ride with my brother, who worked at seven-thirty in the morning. Therefore, I was in school since seven twenty when I had class until eight ten.  The time that I was there I either listen to my iPod or talk to friends.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I had the chance to sleep in late because my classes started at nine forty-five and I was lucky that my dad was able to take me at that time, so I procrastinated in sleeping early and waking up late so I would rest. I would put my homework aside to have energy to work.

When I decided to focus o both school and work I started to spend my time wisely. I would get out of school, go home, eat, change and go straight to work because I would start an hour later after I would get out of school until ten at night or eleven.  I would go home, eat something, and do homework until one or even two in the morning, and then it was the same routine again. I would get four hours of sleep, if I were lucky I would get five hours of sleep.  I had to multi-task. Whenever I went to school on the ten minute drive I would study my root words for my exam, I would eat and do homework at the same time, I would be working and try to remember all the things I could for an exam so I wouldn’t have to spend it later on that day.“Focusing in organization staying organized makes it possible to do more in less time” (Hoerr  44).

According to Dorothy Hoerr in the book called A Student’s Guide to Succeeding in Community College, she argues that knowing how to multi-task and staying organized is the key to success. I agree with her because I noticed that at the beginning of the semester I was disorganized and didn’t keep track of my homework. I knew that I could work two jobs and go to school, but I just didn’t know how to organize my time. Therefore, I procrastinated to do my homework to do it at the last moment and putting my jobs as an excuse for not doing my homework. However, as I realized that I was not doing enough in my school I got my act together and I started to spend my time wisely.

I knew that I was getting really good paychecks I was helping my parents out, but my grades were decreasing because of my job. I knew that I didn’t want to work at a retail store for my entire life, and definitely I did not want to focus more in my work than on my school.  For me school was more important than my job. I needed the money and I wanted to help my parents, but I knew that I did not want to sacrifice my school for a job.  I knew that if I spent my time wisely and I took my homework to work to do on my lunch and breaks I was going to be able to accomplish more.

By putting this into practice I noticed that in my two ten- minute breaks I was able to accomplish sometimes at least one fourth of my work, and even sometimes I would finish half of my math homework. Sometimes when I was lucky I was able to finish one section of my homework. There were times that I would start my essays at work or my general idea of what I was going to write about. When I would get home I would simply type what I had written and just finish it. By doing this I started to save up more time; I was able to sleep more and finish my homework faster.

Soon enough I saw the results: my papers and my essays were becoming better than when I procrastinated. The essays that I turned in to my teachers were better developed and better written than my other papers and they were complete. Some essays I was actually satisfied with the grade I had because I expressed what I wanted to say and wrote exactly what I wanted.

The motivation and the dedication I put in my first semester at Gavilan College was so big that I know that if I continue to work hard, and organize myself and stop my procrastination I am going to be able to succeed not only in a community college, but also wherever I diced to go. For all upcoming freshmen that are in my position, or that want to work while being a full time student, I recommend to you to multi-task. To do more than one thing if you can, if it involves movement do that and use your brain as well by doing this you have the capacity to do things better and memorizing thing.

Also, never procrastinate. For the most part you don’t get your thoughts together when you do something at the last minute. If you do wait and procrastinate, you tend to stress more and you are not able to concentrate because you are under pressure. Not only that but you won’t be able to express what you think about the topic. I recommend to “Focus our energy first on assignments that make up a large portion of your grade” (Hoerr 24). By doing this you will stress less and you are going to be able to receive better grade.

As I look back and see how I have changed throughout my freshman year in college, I have learned so much in a short amount of time. I was able to work two jobs, work for sixty to seventy hours a week, take eleven units and receive good grades for all my classes. I stopped procrastinating to focus on my work that made up a big part of my grade, to express and show my thoughts together, and complete the work. Yes, it did take big fat “F” to change my procrastination, but now that I look back it was worth receiving that grade because that “F” was an eye opener for me. It shook me from head to toes, letting me know that I was not spending enough time on my work. Therefore, I am satisfied that I do not procrastinate any more. Reading the book A Student’s Guide to Succeeding in Community College, by Dorothy Lehman Hoerr, was so helpful that it helped me succeed in my freshman year. The advice that Hoerr offers is helpful enough if you put it to practice in your life.

Work Cited

Hoerr, Lehman Dorothy. A Student’s Guide to Succeeding in Community College. Houghton, 2008; 34-60