Friday, September 10, 2010

Flexibly Rigid

Before starting school, I knew that one of the biggest changes for me would be the time deadlines. Assignments due here and now, exams, and classes that don't wait for a convenient time to start. Much of motherhood for me has been a flexible schedule. Yes, I enjoy setting schedules for myself and my little family, but really grocery shopping doesn't HAVE to be done on Wednesday... that is, unless we are completely out of bread, milk and eggs. Library books have due dates, but you can go online and renew them. And on the whole, many of my to-do lists are not screaming to be done RIGHT NOW! I can stop and smell the roses, and nobody is going to fire me from my job.

School felt different. Deadlines give me a rush, and in the past I have been known to allow them to creep up quickly in order to get my creative juices flowing. However, this semester's classes don't ask for much creativity - mostly just hard work, memorization and practice. And so far, I've met all of my deadlines within a large time period. Twice now, I've gone to hand in my assignments only to hear fellow classmates moaning and groaning and asking if that was really due today. The kind-hearted professors have immediately offered at least 2 day extensions. And I find myself thinking, "REALLY?! HOW IS THAT FAIR?" I guess I'm more rigid than I am flexible. And I admit I found great joy when the two day extension was up and still some students cried for more time and our teacher simply looked at them, acknowledged his previous leniency and then told them the time was up. HA!

Now knock on wood nobody gets seriously sick or worse and I have to go begging for an extension of any kind.

1 comment:

Shawny said...

That actually makes me really mad about the professors giving the extensions. As a college student, if not sooner, one is supposed to learn to grow up and be responsible and not catered to. No wonder the younger generation feels so entitled. I've gone to seminars in the past that talk about this very thing and how college students after graduation are NOT ready to hit the real world because they haven't learned the skills necessary to be accountable and responsible. It's sad to see that it really is true! Seriously, it makes me sick.

Good for you for being responsible!

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