Procrastination is like a virus wreaking havoc on Chaminade. Both students and teachers are affected by this “epidemic” known as procrastination. Students wait until the night before to cram in a long project and teachers wait weeks sometimes months before they begin the grading process. Procrastination spreads throughout school and no one is safe.

Procrastination is a common issue. Good students, bad students, even teachers are affected by it. Around 86% of high school students and 66% of teachers are reported to procrastinate. Everyone is affected by procrastination and everyone has their rationalizations for why they put off their work.

Every student has fallen victim to procrastination. No matter how good of a student one thinks they are they will always procrastinate at some point. Jake Sudduth is what many would consider a “good” student. He works hard and completes his assignments on time. Though he finishes on time he still pushes it off until the night before. “I procrastinate on homework almost every day.”

Jake is not alone when he says he procrastinates. Everyone pushes off their homework until the night before. “Sometimes I’ll do homework in mentor group or lunch if I have them before the class the homework is for,” Sudduth added.

Some students use mentor group and every minute they can find in the morning to do homework just because procrastination is so prevalent in students’ lives. Many students push things off to the night before or even the morning of simply because they will still get it done. Sudduth made the bold claim that he still gets it done on time so why do it early. This is the rationalization that many students have when thinking about assignments. “Why do it early if I finish it on time anyway.” This is hard to argue against and if the system works why change it.

Procrastination may seem like a problem but perhaps in reality it isn’t as big of a deal as some people make it out to be. Students are known to procrastinate but a group of people typically get let off the hook. This group is the teachers. Teachers always take weeks and sometimes months to grade assignments. “Grading…just gives me fantasies of drowning,” Mr. Keithley answered when asked why it sometimes takes so long to get our grades back.

Apparently grading is a horrible experience and teachers put if off because they fear it. “Mental health is the reason I put things off. The preservation of what little mental health I have left,” Mr. Keithley continued. “There ain’t much left”.

Mr. Keithley makes grading seem appalling and if this is the case no wonder teachers put things off for so long. Teachers make grading seem terrible, but their homework isn’t much better. Teachers assign homework and students put it off until the night before and then wait months to receive a grade because teachers procrastinate on grading. It seems as though both groups are stuck in the cycle of procrastination and everyone will fall victim to it.