Procrastination is a BITCH!

Procrastination is a student’s worst nightmare. It is the evil shadow that lurks in the background, follows your every move and whispers words of deception into your ears. Why is it that so many students fall victim to such a misleading character? The answer is simple. Students of our generation have not learnt to manage their time or focus on what is of utmost importance. Most of all they are not able to prioritise.

The common excuse is that there is too much to do and too little time to get it all done. I personally find this very hard to believe. The truth is simple. With all these new forms of communication around students find it difficult to concentrate on getting the work done. So who do we blame? Is it the creators of such communicative devices or the students who make use of them?

Facebook is one of the most popular of all networking services. It is available to anyone who is interested in creating links with other individuals across the world or those who just want to keep in touch with family and friends. Facebook also allows individuals to upload pictures and videos onto their profiles so that it can be made available to those on their contacts list, not to mention being able to chat to anyone who is online via a chat service. Browsing these features can take hours at a time. I should know, I’ve fallen victim to this on many occasions.

Besides downloading material from the internet, students love to chat to their friends all the time even though most live on campus. Gtalk, by google, and Windows Live, by MSN, and MXit are some of the many chat services available to our students. Most students use this to escape the responsibilities of campus life and find it more productive to complain to their friends about all the assignments due for that week instead of logging off and finishing what needs to be done.

About two years ago Carte Blanche did a story on MXit where many parents were concerned about their children losing focus on their academics and being involved with strangers in chat rooms that are provided by the creators of MXit. At the time I was a MXit addict and felt as if I was being attacked but now that I think about it those parents were right.

The youth of today are so easily distracted by the world’s advancements that they do not see the damage it causes. They would like to believe that they know exactly what they are doing but in actual fact they do not have the skill to come to terms with the amount of distraction these past times can cause.

What is worse is the pressure we put on ourselves when we give in to party invitations and I’m not talking about birthday parties people; I’m talking about nights out on the town. We all know that famous line, “This is my last Friday out before exams” or “I’m never drinking like that again” and what about “No, I can’t, but I can always start working on Monday...”. Any familiar places coming to mind? I can think of at least two. Friar Tucks and The Union Club.
Students of Rhodes University are no strangers to New Street or The Union Building, which is now known as The Bantu Stephen Biko Building. Every Wednesday and Friday (oh and Tuesdays and Thursdays too) brings with it students on a mission, either to escape the stresses of academic life or just get drunk. I ask you. Is there really a need to be going out practically every day of the week? Do these students not have work to do and assignments to hand in? It is pure irresponsibility. I would agree that everyone needs a time out now and again but this is simply ridiculous.

Our parents sent us to this prestigious institution to broaden our minds and become intellectually renowned academics. But instead some of these “intellectuals” would rather party their week away.

My point is that our youth of today are becoming more and more irresponsible with the exception of a few. They need to buckle down and stop watching their life go by as they party up a storm or waste hours on end surfing the net. Procrastination leads one into a big black whole, once you’re in there’s no getting out.