My freshman year, I had a roommate who was your typical 4.0 student. She was a biology major who completed her work as soon as it was assigned, and rarely left her room except for dinner, marching band and work. I was not that type of student, and we used to fight about our differences. She had never seen me do my homework then assumed that I wasn't; she was wrong.
I spent much of my free time napping, hanging out with friends, or participating in extra-curricular activities. My roommate was very passive aggressive and used to make jabs at me, specifically concerning the ways I chose to complete my work which most often included coffee-induced late nights due to drama rehearsal schedules. What can I say? I'm a night-owl. My freshman year, I spent way too many nights in the 24-hour academic lounge working on papers the night before they were due. These papers were likely not my best work, but I received good enough grades on them.
My freshman roommate and I never saw eye to eye when it came to our studies. Due to the fact that we both completed our work in very different ways, we were not often on the same page when it came to the urgency of deadlines, the stress of the amount of work we both had and studying endeavors.
I didn't really think it was a big deal; I know that people have different ways of succeeding. My roommate didn't really feel that way, and often we fought because she was assuming that I wasn't working as hard as I could have been. This wasn't true, despite her beliefs.
Though my productivity habits were and still are different from other students, it doesn't make them any less efficient or effective. Last semester, I directed a show, edited over seventy submissions of poetry for an undergraduate magazine, took four out of five English courses for my major and managed to raise my semester GPA by 0.4 points.
I spent many nights with a Venti Mocha sitting at a desk filled with scripts, textbooks, essays, and assignments. I adjusted my schedule so that I'd pull all-nighters for papers several nights before they were due, to give myself time to edit and revise. Despite my stressful habits, I more than surpassed the requirement for Dean's List, gaining a spot on the respectful list for the first time in my college career.
Though my habits are different than many other students, I have found that I work more efficiently under pressure, and that pressure has to be caused by myself. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to school work, and that actually ends up becoming a good thing for my academics. If I do not set deadlines for myself, I will procrastinate and cause myself to have so much anxiety that I will inevitably shut down. Although this is not healthy, it happens to me a lot.
At the end of the day, my study habits and productivity habits are no one's business but my own; they don't negatively or positively affect anyone but me.
Just because someone completes their work differently than you, doesn't mean they're not working as hard as you. Do not judge someone for the way that they get things done. Given both my academic and work schedules, I complete my assignments and study in ways that are going to work best for me. That's it, point blank.
People succeed differently. This goes for situations beyond college, too. In life, there are often a variety of ways to do one thing. Do not get caught in the differences between your way and someone else's way. As long as the project or assignment is completed in a punctual, correct and appropriate manner, it doesn't matter which way you do it.
