LaToya B. Galloway
I procrastinate. I have known this about myself since high school-waiting the last possible minute to write a paper, do a project, study for a test. The 24-hour CVS was my late night companion. It always had the ink cartridge, glue and construction paper waiting for me.
I used to pray and make vain promises to God that if He would just get me through… I promise next time I’ll start a week in advance! As soon as I get the assignment, I promise, if you could just not let me fail! Please!
Needless to say I turned in papers and projects like a superhero swooping in at the last possible moment to save the distressed one. I passed the tests- most days. Unless it was biology, in which case it didn’t matter if I studied years in advance. One day, I’m not quite sure when, I stopped panicking about waiting until three in the morning to write the paper, and just accepted that that was my time to prove to my self and those doubters that procrastination was a true motivator.
I know all the planners are shaking their heads in vehement disapproval. Hi Mommy! My mother, kin to Martha Stewart and B. Smith, is always planning. Just last night she was asking about Christmas. It’s July and hot and I’m still trying to figure out what weekend I can make it to the beach and she is asking me Christmas questions. I, as usual, mumbled something and committed to nothing. She, as usual, promised to revisit the topic at a later date.
It’s 4:14 A.M. Crunch time!
As an educator, especially an English teacher, I often feel guilty about my inability to plan ahead and be prepared. I once had a poster in my classroom that read: Warning due dates are closer than they appear! I think the sign was more for me than my students. Despite my inability to jump on the Advance Planning bandwagon, I encourage my students to plan ahead and get things done. While I wake up slightly before the birds to finish the thing I knew about three weeks ahead of time.
UUGGHH! The dichotomy of it all! It’s Peter Parker and Spiderman! On one hand he just wants to be Peter Parker loving Jane. However, there’s the suit and the responsibility of saving others. I just want to be a writer, sipping tea with some soothing song in the background as I listen to my fingers hit the keys like Chopin (side note: procrastination does not work for learning how to play the piano). But then I have to put on the suit and be the teacher and explain the importance of an outline. When I know in the back of my being, I only use an outline after I have written something, never before. When I know that as I writer, outlines feel like a straight jacket hindering me. Still I have to prepare them to be ready for all things. And sometimes, just the knowledge of how to do an outline is helpful. Like double checking a subtraction problem to make sure the answer is correct.
It’s time to switch gears, put on the suit. Today, we’re discussing literary terms in music!
