11.04.05
You Must Communicate
In any scholastic situation, it is important to communicate. With your classmates, your instructors and yourself. If you know what’s going on in your life and where you are having troubles, you can say so to your classmates and your instructors.
October was a big suck month for me and November hasn’t gotten off to a great start. It’s important to realize that even though college may be your top priority sometimes the universe has other ideas and other parts of your life go on. It’s a balancing act that sometimes ends up with lots of broken plates on the floor.
What has kept me in the good graces of my instructors and relieved me from a great deal of self-imposed pressure is communication. The minute I realized that my non-academic life was becoming too emotionally charged for me to keep at bay and was starting to impinge upon my classwork, I said something.
Tell your instructors that you are having a tough time because of whatever and make it sincere. Do not abuse your instructor’s good will.
In my case, it was a series of damnably unfortunate events, including a very dear friend being diagnosed with breast cancer and then finding out that not only had it spread to her lymph nodes, it was also in her lungs. Do not pretend that such things don’t have an impact on your life, they do and they will creep up on you and keep you from being at the top of your academic game. Be sure to tell your instructors, and acknowledge that you aren’t at your best and that you are struggling. Personally, I usually tell them that I know my lateness with assignments comes with consequences.
Doing the work to the best of your ability is still your responsibility. If you have already proven to be an earnest student, your instructors will be willing to work with you. But you must be honest, both with them and yourself. Do not think that one bad day gives you an excuse and do not use excuses. We all have bad days and that is not an excuse.
Simply state what is keeping you from keeping up and continue to keep trying. Your education is probably the single most important investment in your lifetime, it is up to you to keep up with it but don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and ask for help if tragedy strikes. (Too many keeps in the first sentence, I really must work on my vocabulary.)