When it comes to the weekend on the typical college campus, what are you up to? How do you plan your day? Haven't we all skipped parties, skipped class, or skipped a club meeting or make out session with your girlfriend/boyfriend in order to do something more important? To each their own, we all have our priorities. Mathlete skips gym to practice math problems; Artist doesn't pay attention to class or chores in order to focus on the latest doodle, the lax player might skip homework for the day to party.
If you don't relate to any of these, here's some scenarios to set the scene. You're the average college student in mid-October, coffee in one hand, a backpack, and maybe glasses on and a phone in the other hand. You'd have the average work-load: moderate amount of homework but can it wait until Sunday? You might be a diligent student and want to get all your homework done, or typically you'd procrastinate until Wednesday because everything is due one Thursday, EVERYTHING. Two tests, one essay, and a chapter or two to read in the textbook. But again, everything can wait.
For an average student this is how the Hierarchy of obligations should look like:
1. Classes, work, Emergencies 2. Does some homework 3. Looks at the essay prompt 4. but instead does anything else like going to the gym, playing smash bros with friends, making out with bae 5. Party 6. Nap in between classes, clubs, and homework (or during class, homework, or clubs)
More specifically the order goes as follows:
1. / 2. Homework/ Essays
As Mom and Dad say, the only reason you're in college is for the good grades, and the only way to do that is by getting homework done. The difference between homework and essays for this article's purposes are that homework can be study cards, math problems, reading the textbook while essays are English classes 2-10 novel on the significance of the green light in the Great Gatsby (s/o to Will). Essays because of their format need more time sometimes, with essays, one needs time away from them to clear their mind and proofread later, they can be written in chunks, where for most homework's, it's easier and quicker to do in one foul swipe.
3. Work
Boss-man is depending on you to go to work on time, they're paying for your time, it would be not nice to not show up. However, if you have so much homework due tonight or tomorrow, and won't have time to finish it if you went to work, the right thing to do would be to call out.
4. Family
OK, so there's two types of family situations.
1. Grandpappy is on his death bed.
In this case, by all means, go to meet Grandpappy, hold his hand and be there for him. But in some cases, if the hospital is too far away, or you have too much homework or the very unfortunate event that you can't find someone to take your shift at work, one might not be able to see Grandpappy. (one should not pretend like Grandpappy is sick on his death bed to flee from work or homework, because that is unethical. Thankyou)
2. You want to come home, or Mom wants you to come home this weekend because she misses you.
In this case, you miss mom too but if you have too much homework, and have work you don't have to go home. But if you don't have work, and you feel like you can study well at home too, then by all means, go home.
7. Clubs and Sports
If you're not sick or grandpa's/ friends aren't dying, and homework and work are dealt with, then one should go to practice or to the club meeting.
5. / 6. Girlfriend/ Friends
Again there are two situations...
1. Girlfriend or Friends are [sick, in a car crash, negative things]
If Grandpappy is fine, but your best friend or girlfriend are in the hospital (and homework and work is ok) go to the hospital.
2. Girlfriend or Friends want to see you [either on campus or back at home]
If you just want to hang out with your girlfriend or friends, you have homework, and know that like most friends and girlfriends/ boyfriends, they distract you, it's best to study on your own. However if you know the best friend might be partying and that they have no off button when it comes to the keg, then one must be the guiding adult friend to monitor the friend's beer intake.
Also one must keep in mind the ongoing debate on the bro-code/ girl-code: "pals before gals" and the same for girls. Should we spend time with bae or with your best friend? It's a balance.
8. Partying
After most of the upcoming homework is dealt with to a manageable level (maybe the essay due Friday is 75 percent done and the rest can be done later), one can comfortably go to parties and have fun with the friends, whom by now are hopefully healthy. Whether you come to have fun, to not drink, to be the mom in the posse monitoring beer consumption on Katie, Jamie, and Julie, or if you come to get drunk yourself, homework needs to be done.
9. Hobbies
Depending on if you're a drinker, or not, this could be eight or nine one the list. Video gaming, skateboarding, and for the uniquely tasteful beings, coin collecting, once homework is done, one can relax and kick back to killing zombies on the legendary Xbox 1.
10. Sleeping
College students subsist on coffee, and energy drinks, and little sleep. We all have 50 alarms consisting of each period between classes with contingency alarms set up if you miss the first alarm. Once all the homework and clubs, etc. are done you can sleep but most of the time it's only for a few hours, and most of the time it's in between classes for 10 minutes.
