Keeping Track

Posted September 10, 2019 by Amie Grosshans

My first week of the semester went well.  Usually the first week is a bit lighter than the rest of the semester, with the professors introducing themselves and giving a basic overview of the courses, and the students answering some forum questions to get to know each other and the course topic.  Week two is where the more serious work starts.  I certainly have a lot of work this semester, with several group projects, research papers, and presentations. 

I was overwhelmed when I first read my course syllabi.  For my first two semesters, all my classes have followed a similar format, with Day 1 being the first day of class, and Day 7 being the due date for the assignments.  I didn’t write down any deadlines, because I knew that I had to get everything done by the end of the week.  It was pretty simple to manage.  This semester, however, is different.  All my classes have work due on Day 7, but two of my three classes have additional work due before the last day of the week.  So there are a lot more deadlines.  To make things even more confusing, all of my classes start on different days.  Thankfully, I went out and found a nice planner with lots of space to keep track of everything that’s due.  I’ve already entered all of my weekly assignments and big project deadlines.  I actually entered my big project deadlines twice–once on the weekly calendar and once on the monthly calendar.  It took a while, but it was worth it because now I can see everything that’s due and can plan for busier weeks.  And I won’t worry about forgetting an assignment.  If only completing the work were as easy as planning it.