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Ty Stebelton
Lucia Elden
English 111
17 October 2018
procrastinated since I was little, but lately it seems to be worse. It isn’t necessarily a terrible
thing for most situations, but for one specific class it is affecting me a lot. With English, or any
class for that matter, I always just put off writing until the night before. This isn’t necessarily bad
because I feel motivated and focused when I know that I have no choice but to get it done. This
is even when my best thoughts are articulated. However, I am taking online pre-calculus and for
that class, I have never procrastinated so much in my entire life. The class is divided into weekly
lessons with homework and quizzes. After a few weeks, there is the test covering everything we
learned. Additionally, all the work from the past few weeks are due on that test day. Most people
will do the work as it comes and take the test with no problem. I, however, will never do the
work or quizzes until a couple days before the test. This means I procrastinate several weeks of
lessons, work, and quizzes until I have only a few days to learn it all for the test. It hasn't been
much of a problem for me academically because I understand everything better and finish all the
work, but health and stress wise, it’s causes much anguish. So while health wise it may not be
I always put myself into a position where I have no choice. It is either do the work as best
as possible with complete focus or else parish. I always do this to myself and I view it as a bad
thing, but what if it isn’t? As I said before, my best work seems to come out when I do this. So,
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while it is very stressful, it would seem that it benefits me on an academic level. Most people
would not be able to understand this because it seems so opposite. If a person is thought to
always put their work off and timing everything to do it last minute, they are also probably
thought to be a student with a bad work ethic. However, this is not the case because the focus
and attention help me perform better in my work. Not too long ago, I realized that I procrastinate
not because I’m lazy or unable to understand the material or work I need to do but because this is
when I perform my best. My view on procrastination changed immensely. Jack Mezirow would
comment on this by pointing at his idea of frames of reference. Mezirow states, “We transform
our frames of reference through critical reflection on the assumptions upon which our
interpretations, beliefs, and habits of mind or points of view are based” (88). I agree with him
because his point is evident here. I always viewed procrastination as such a bad thing and as if it
made me a bad student, but after some critical reflection on what procrastination means on a
deeper level, I now understand that it isn’t necessarily bad because it has made me perform
better.
This is a habit that has stuck with me for quite some time. As I stated before, it has gotten
to be more frequent and consistent in college. I believe that it is because college is more difficult
and requires more critical thought. I make this claim based on the evidence that I would
procrastinate much more in classes that I deem more difficult. In essence, the more difficult the
class, the more I procrastinate. I should add that I do not do this on purpose, it is simply a habit.
Jack Mezirow briefly speaks on habit of mind by stating, “Habits of mind are broad, abstract,
orienting, habitual ways of thinking, feeling, and acting influenced by assumptions that
constitute a set of codes” (87). James VanderMey speaks much more on habits in his article
“Remarks on Habit.” VanderMey would agree with Mezirow’s definition of habits of mind.
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However, Mezirow seems to frown upon habits while VanderMey would have a similar view of
habits as me, positive. VanderMey says, “As each of us develops into a fully functioning person,
and as each of us gets educated and ultimately grows into a professional, we acquire those
proficiencies in the form of growing and deepening habits” (14). This is all when he spoke of the
DQP (Degree Qualification Profile) of each student and how we develop some bad habits, but
also good habits that help us succeed through school. Additionally, VanderMey states, “First is
the idea of habit as action potential, a body’s readiness to take a certain path” (15). This line
from VanderMey’s speech spoke to me quite heavily as it illustrates my point exactly. My habit
frantically working while still doing the best work I can do. My body is prepared to take this path
as his has been doing it for several years. This is another example of why my last-minute
procrastination isn’t an inherently bad thing. I have conditioned my body to take work best at
I understand how this may all seem silly or redundant to others. How it could be viewed
by outsiders as an excuse to being lazy instead of throwing myself into my work. Perri Klass, a
professor at New York University, would be one author who disagrees with me and VanderMey.
In Perri Klass’ “Learning the Language,” she tells her story of working at a hospital as a medical
student. The theme of her story is that she has trouble with the language of the discourse
community inside the hospital, and, as such, throws herself into it and is constantly trying learn
and improve her language skills there. She was constantly learning and pushing herself to
understand the new language every day. Klass states, “You move closer and closer to being a
doctor instead of just talking like one” (63). The key words in her quote are ‘closer and closer’.
She formed a habit of learning that meant she was always putting herself into the position to
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learn and to conquer this new medical jargon. Therefore, it is evident as to why she would
disagree with my own habits. I do not work at a consistent pace as she did. I put off work and
studying until I have no choice but to do so, whereas she never put it off. She was eager to hop
into it consistently and was willing to learn everyday she was there. VanderMey would agree that
she has a good habit because she is learning at a consistent and excited pace, but he wouldn’t
and Mezirow included, it may seem redundant and not efficient, but it is a habit that has always
helped me comprehend lessons and work efficiently. VanderMey spoke greatly on habits, on
how students develop numerous habits throughout their career. He said that habits seem to
always be frowned upon and get a bad rap, but he disagrees with this common misconception by
stating, “I think we can make a case for good habits, and we have backing from lots of thinkers
on this” (13). So, while my habit of procrastination is not ideal, I think it’s an example of a good
habit. Some day I will work on improving and tweaking my habit to be even more efficient,
allowing me to work very efficiently when it isn’t the last minute, but for now, I think my habit
Works Cited