Quick Vent - I'm Stupid

[LkptTiger 1]

Well, I just now checked my e-mail for the first time in about three days to find that the professor for one of my English courses is sick and has canceled class for later today.

I should be ecstatic, right?

Wrong.

I stayed-up all night, eating chocolate-covered coffee beans, and writing a bullshit paper (well, most of the time was spent fooling around with a stick and a puck/watching college hockey re-runs, but you get the idea) that was scheduled to be collected today. The damn paper isn't even finished yet!

I'm just bummin' since I probably could have been asleep before 1:30 for the first time this school year, and instead I pulled a totally unnecessary all-nighter. I wouldn't even care that much if it weren't for the fact that I am trying to recover from knee surgery/gain some upper-body bulk - and rest/sleep is sorta vital to that kinda thing.

I'm sure this kind of thing has happened to one or two of you before. Care to share and make me feel at least slightly better about myself...?

I'll be a little more diligent in checking my e-mail from now-on...lesson learned.

[LkptTiger 1]

That's the trap I've fallen into...

I went to a pretty small high school, and pretty much just got by based-upon my reputation as a semi-intelligent individual. If you were an athlete who also happened to be a high-honor roll student, as I and a number of my buddies were, you could get away with murder. It might sound like an over-statement, but we essentially ran the school. I thought it was pretty sweet at the time, but now that I'm in college, and a huge one at that, I really wish I would have been challenged.

Last year in AP English, I did not read a single book over the summer or during the academic year. Not even sure I cracked one of them open once. I didn't have to - my teacher loved me and the Hockey Gods blessed me, along with athleticism, with the ability to bullshit my way through any essay that was assigned; and I would do them the period before they were due. It was the same thing in every single class. All I really had to do was show-up. Again, it was really sweet at the time, but now I kinda want to go back home and beat a few of my old teachers for it.

I'm just not used to actually putting effort into my academics. In the end, I know I really can't blame my high school experiences and have to hold myself accountable - I am/was totally unprepared for this.

[hockeymom 2]

People tend to think of procrastinators as disorganized or lazy or busy. And sometimes it is just that. But it always has a pay-off. Careful you don't become an adreneline junkie (no, not the stick) part of the procrastination disease is the last minute surge of energy and getting to "save the day" by pulling it off once again last minute; such a clever guy to manage that. It's an ego feed.

** EDIT: In case I sound like I'm being moralistic, I'd better add that this is me. Working in advertising all those years as a "professional smart person" with all of those fast-paced and last-minute deadlines was the perfect environment for me.

[LkptTiger 1]

It's just complete and total lack of motivation, I think. I'm pretty sure part of me is still convinced I'm, academically speaking, bulletproof. Not to brag, but I'm a pretty bright kid, and I don't have the slightest problem with the work when I actually sit my ass down and do it, but I really have a problem with the "what do they think they can do to ME?" smart-ass attitude - a result of having everything, from school to hockey or any other sport imaginable (except for bowling, I can't bowl at all) come entirely too easy to me.

To be honest, I was totally set to sit down and finish the paper at 6:00 last night, but got bored and decided instead to head (back) over to the gym and hit the rowing machine for awhile...I don't know what the Hell my problem is, but I'd better figure it out soon.

...I think lately I've been having a very hard time coping with the fact that, given my on-going issues with injuries, my competitve hockey career is most-likely over. Ever since I was four years old, all I wanted to do was play hockey. Now, I obviously wasn't going to make it to the Show, but Junior was a probability, and I still had what seemed to be realistic hopes of playing good college hockey somewhere down the line. Now I can't really play hockey anymore and I think I'm pretty bitter about having to rely on my mind.

[hockeymom 2]

I think you're onto something there. It is incredibly difficult to get over/around having a dream die. I don't think that quite gets at it. Hmm. Part of your identity? Who you are/were was someone who was going to do something with hockey and your body was a huge part of who you are. All that training - you trained a lot didn't you? (Bet you were a gym-whore, lol, given that's where you went instead of writing your paper). And now for what? Where do you go/do with that?

That's a - forgive me for using the word - huge paradigm shift. Not that it can't be done, and you're obviously a guy who doesn't hide from himself or his "stuff" - so you're a million miles ahead of the game. Finding something different that "calls you to be" can take some fumbling around. But the period when you're getting there sucks.

Not sure that it helps to say that getting ticked off with a part of yourself - your intellect - because your physical side has let you down is a normal part of the struggle.

Hope my "armchair-instant-analysis" stuff doesn't seem offensive or whatever.

[All Torhs Team 0]

I've heard that in college, teachers can send out homework or quiz notices through email. Is that true? If it is then youd want to check your email at least twice a day right?

[Dante2004 0]

Eh, its tough. I wait for the last minute a lot too. But lately I have started to be more smart with doing the work I get early on and it saves a lot of trouble later on. It makes a big difference studying 30 mins a night for a test for a few nights instead of cramming all the night before. Same for papers, although I like to get them all done at one time

What is your major if you only need to study for 30 minutes for a few nights for an exam?

Wow...I should have chosen that major.

Of course, I would then be saying this a lot at work...

"Would you like fries with that"?

haha

Just hacking on you...

[mack 44]

I always chalk those kinds of things to "it shappens" and forget about it. Yeah it's annoying, especially on the days I'd hoof it in the dead of winter to class only to see a note posted on the door and not even an email sent out. I'm also a person that goes on 2-3 hours of sleep a night so the all-nighter thing isn't any kind of skin off my ass.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

I should be ecstatic, right?Wrong....The damn paper isn't even finished yet!

I'm not exactly sure why you're upset. Yes you stayed up, but you didn't even finish the paper. How do you think the kids who did finish the paper feel, knowing that other people in the class got a reprieve ?

As for procastination - it is a blessing and a curse to be able to get by at the last minute. If this is as far as you are going with your schooling, you might be OK. But if you plan to go on - procastinating will be more and more of a problem because - just like in hockey - at each level you will be up against better and better competition. Brains can only get you so far.

Also, the habits you develop now will affect you when you go on to the real world. It's one thing to flunk a class because you didn't write a good last-minute paper. It's another thing to lose a job or miss out on a raise because you turned in a crummy report and made your boss look bad.

Many students underestimate the importance of grades in getting the truly plum jobs out of university. If you want a job working for, say, a top-tier investment bank or consulting firm, you had better have good grades.

[Gongshow11 1]

I've heard that in college, teachers can send out homework or quiz notices through email. Is that true? If it is then youd want to check your email at least twice a day right?

yup, e-mail system with a timer on it so you cant cheat or stop and go back later. real shitty tho cuz if you do it on any computer there are distractions. every lesson is online too, if you can read powerpoints, you can be a teacher

[hockeymom 2]

I've heard that in college, teachers can send out homework or quiz notices through email. Is that true? If it is then youd want to check your email at least twice a day right?

yup, e-mail system with a timer on it so you cant cheat or stop and go back later. real shitty tho cuz if you do it on any computer there are distractions. every lesson is online too, if you can read powerpoints, you can be a teacher

aaaw yglod, I'd like to think I do a little more than read a powerpoint.... I assemble them too!!!

:D

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

I've heard that in college, teachers can send out homework or quiz notices through email. Is that true? If it is then youd want to check your email at least twice a day right?

yup, e-mail system with a timer on it so you cant cheat or stop and go back later. real shitty tho cuz if you do it on any computer there are distractions. every lesson is online too, if you can read powerpoints, you can be a teacher

aaaw yglod, I'd like to think I do a little more than read a powerpoint.... I assemble them too!!!

:D

Hahaha, LOL

[LkptTiger 1]

I've heard that in college, teachers can send out homework or quiz notices through email. Is that true? If it is then youd want to check your email at least twice a day right?

Something like that would probably be on the sylabus - the professor wouldn't just "spring" that kind of assignment on you. The first thing you learn in college is that the sylabus is the most important paper/packet of papers you will receive in any given class.

[hockeymom 2]

I've heard that in college, teachers can send out homework or quiz notices through email. Is that true? If it is then youd want to check your email at least twice a day right?

Something like that would probably be on the sylabus - the professor wouldn't just "spring" that kind of assignment on you. The first thing you learn in college is that the sylabus is the most important paper/packet of papers you will receive in any given class.

Yep, the syllabus or course outline is a contract. Outlines what and when assignments are due and what % of grade weight each one is. Really helps plan your semester.

[pantherfan 0]

part of the procrastination disease is the last minute surge of energy and getting to "save the day" by pulling it off once again last minute; such a clever guy to manage that. It's an ego feed.

Interesting, I always left things to the last minute or didn't do them at all, I was clever till about year 8 and then I just "cruised" as my teachers would say through my final 3 years with out doing anything or revising for tests, so if I understand what your saying I was doing it to challenge my self?

[hockeymom 2]

part of the procrastination disease is the last minute surge of energy and getting to "save the day" by pulling it off once again last minute; such a clever guy to manage that.  It's an ego feed.

Interesting, I always left things to the last minute or didn't do them at all, I was clever till about year 8 and then I just "cruised" as my teachers would say through my final 3 years with out doing anything or revising for tests, so if I understand what your saying I was doing it to challenge my self?

Nah... you were probably just lazy... LOL

Sorry - I couldn't resist; just taught an app I've never looked at before and haven't quite come down from the adreneline rush...lol

Hmm... if you did have the rush it is probably that. The other extreme tho' is when people don't bother/can't be bothered (or are chronically late for example) that it is sending a big F-you message out to the world. Both are expressions of ego. (and a healthy ego is a good thing)

Only you can tell which camp you're in.

[mack 44]

Way too busy and bored to do anything other than procrastinate. That said, I don't seem to do it now that I'm part of the working machine.

[pantherfan 0]

Yeh I think lazzyness definatley had something to do with it but I'd also put A.D.D and eye sight down to alot of it aswell, just sitting at the back of the class as you do at school and then realising you can't make out what the board says and everybodys going ahead of you in lesson and not wanting to leave you mates or wanting to tell the teacher you needed to be moved so you could see the board.

:( Damn that brought back some memories

[hockeymom 2]

Yeah it does, doesn't it?! When I started teaching later in my life, one of my thoughts was, "why do I even want to contemplate teaching - I haven't recoverd from high school yet!"

Although to an earlier comment - you really do want to keep a close eye on your emails. Bounce the school system to the email you use on a regular basis. I use email and an on-line course support app all the time. I recently gave an extension on an assignment because we'd been having trouble with an app - then I realized that the date I'd changed it to conflicted with pub night. So I sent an email extending the date so people could go to pub-night; if you didn't get it (and pulled an all-nighter), oh well, I tried.

[Chadd 916]

Our HS was pretty much designed for the brain dead. Quite possibly the worst school (not located in an inner-city) in the US. I never had to study or crack a book and it came back to bite me in the ass after I graduated.

[LkptTiger 1]

Hope my "armchair-instant-analysis" stuff doesn't seem offensive or whatever.

Absolutely not. I appreciate the honesty, and you didn't say anything that isn't (likely) accurate. Hell, after the coaches I had last season, there really isn't anything that anyone could ever say to offend me - and that's the kind of stuff I respond to.

It's all stuff I'm still trying to work through, and still haven't come to grips with. I'd be lying if I told you that I still don't occasionally just break-down in tears wondering if I'll ever play decent, competative hockey ever again. People tell me that my life shouldn't begin and end with hockey, but it's really one of the only things that has ever made me happy - there is A LOT of personal history that I think might contribute to a bit of my instability/emphasis on hockey as a part of who I am.

Could one of the older guys on the board help me out and tell me that there are some good, serious adult leagues out there for me? One where guys block shots and finish checks, chirp, and really, really care about the game. This is, I believe, the way the game is supposed to be played - and I really don't know any other way to play it. I'm not sure I could go the rest of my life being told to "settle down" when I'm on the ice, and, for some reason, I'm really not sure why, I have gotten it in my head (I apologize to any of the guys here who take exception to this - and I am sure there are a few) the the vast majority of "beer leagues" are comprised of guys who just show up to the rink to putt-around and get buzzed - and I don't even drink!

[mack 44]

I was in one in Nashville. We had Jay More and Turcotte for a bit, plus most of the players were from Michigan/other areas up north that came down for the car factories.