Summer assignments.

Those two words seem like a distant reality in June, but then they loom over my head like a dark storm cloud come late August. I start the summer in a mood filled with anticipation and without a care in the world, but then it all that comes to a screeching halt way too soon.

At the end of summer I become stressed out, worried, and busy. I’m also in a state of disbelief because once again I stored the tasks I was to complete over the summer in the very back of my mind only to be thought of again when the advertisements come in the mail reminding me to get my back-to-school shopping done.

Granted, the frustration that I find myself feeling is entirely my fault. If I were the type of person who didn’t shove every last thought of school from her mind on the last day of school, then I would end my summer in a much happier way than I seem to every year.

Every year I ask myself how I could possibly have been so neglectful to my assigned reading. The required book I have each summer is usually purchased promptly in June only to be left forgotten on my nightstand. Then, there’s my mother reminding me that she had warned me multiple times that I might want to get a move on with that work.

Does this experience sound familiar to anyone?

I’m aware that there are students who begin their work at a reasonable time in order to avoid the stress that inevitably comes along with procrastination. Unlike me, they space out their work. When the last days of summer arrive they can enjoy themselves outside, living up their final days of freedom, while I am cooped up in my room annotating.

The point of summer assignments is to get students ready for doing work in that class during the school year as well as to prevent everything they already know from slipping away.

For me, however, they seem to serve another purpose.

The end of summer freak-out I have yearly always seems to be a good reminder to me that this waiting until the last minute business is not going to fly once the school year is in full swing.

School has been in session for a couple of weeks now, and I’m glad I learned my lesson about procrastination before my workload increased to what it is now. You could say that I’ve found a school year resolution.

So I guess summer assignments are a good thing after all.