Humour, Opinion

PCP: Do Homework

Note: This article is hosted here for archival purposes only. It does not necessarily represent the values of the Iron Warrior or Waterloo Engineering Society in the present day.
Since the dawn of time, engineering students (and all students, really) have faced a serious dilemma of epic proportions: Do I start my homework now, or do it later? Sadly, many youths are choosing to take the route of not doing their homework now, and instead are procrastinating (or performing other actions with the prefix “procrast-”. It makes life in the moment simpler, and your time can be spent improving your social life on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Quickmeme, etc. But really, is it worth procrastinating, when really, you can just do your homework instead. My opponent in the opposite column might say “yes”, but I am here to tell you”no”!

Choosing to do your homework before procrastinating is always the best option. For one, when you finish the homework you have to do earlier than the deadline, then the time leftover can be spent exploring awesome websites, like the ones mentioned above. Not into websites? It also allows you to do other fun things, like hanging out and drinking beverages with friends, or having time to build on the relationships around you.

On the other hand, if you chose to do all of those fun things first, you leave less time to get homework done. It is very easy to underestimate the amount of time it will take to do an assignment, and procrastinating may lead to late nights, and an increase in your stress levels, which is bad. Many studies and papers in well known health and science journals show an inverse relationship between stress and health. This relates to both physical health of not eating and sleeping right, and your mental health, allowing you to function properly.

Doing your homework on time will also increase your likelihood of doing well in the term. If you get your homework done early, you have the time to double check answers with fellow students, ask TAs questions about problems you have, and find out from professors to make sure that they are absolutely right. It will also make sure that you get the assignment done. We all know that 3am calculus assignments are non-sensicle, and it becomes the challenge of how many part marks you can get, not about actually learning the topic. For me, once 4am hits, I usually quit too, and just choose not to hand in anything for the assignment. Finishing your homework early will also keep you prepared for midterms, quizzes, and final exams because, unlike those who procrastinate, you will actually understand a lot of the material when you work through the problems, yourself.

Speaking of actually learning the topic, isn’t that why most of us are here in the first place (if not, you can skip ahead to the next paragraph). As an engineering student, you are paying anywhere between $6000-$25000 per term for an education. If you constantly procrastinating and not do your homework, you are not going to learn anything. For one, the designs you make as an engineer can affect millions of people, meaning you have the potential to kill or ruin the lives of millions. As well, if you kept reading this paragraph, it means you are not here for the $40,000-$200,000 piece of paper to get a job, but instead, are hoping to learn something so you can make a difference.

But I digress, doing your homework on time makes sure that you stay on a role in a positive way. If you procrastinate, you are left with living one day (or night) at a time, trying to complete the next assignment that is due. By the time the term ends, you will have learned nothing, and  when the exam period begins, you will be spending all your time starting to learn the material. For those of you who haven’t realized, ass your exams, which when compared to homework, will actually make you pass or fail the term. On the contrary, when you do your homework on time, you can take your time to move onto the next assignment. You will on a role to get work done. Once the term finishes, that role of staying on top of everything will continue into finals. No longer will you have to spend a day trying to learn everything the night before. You will be motivated to stay on top of everything, and do well.

The last reason (and most important, in my opinion) is that doing your homework WILL IMPROVE YOUR RELATIONSHIPAL (SEX) LIFE!!!!! Think about it. Charles Darwin had talked about sexual selection driving evolution in a species. The Peacock has beautiful feathers, giraffes have long necks, and elk have giant horns. In engineering classroom, its the brain (or apparent intellegence) of the male or female that is sexually selected for.

Whether you are a girl or a guy, there is nothing sexier than someone who can take control of their lives and knows where they are going. And nothing says “I have control of my life” like having your assignments done early. On top of that, if you have that special crush in your class that you want to spend more time with, finish your assignments early. Then, when that special person you like starts his/her assignment, you can spend some quality time helping them finish the assignment, and then they can spend their time saved spending quality time with you (if you know what I mean).

So while my opponent on the opposite column may tell you that procrastination is the best option, in all reality, doing your homework is better. It will allow you to learn more, keep you healthy, and if you do it enough, can increase the time you spend with that significant other.

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