Our parents and family members teach it, our teachers teach it, our pets even teach it. But yet, the concept still eludes the vast majority of college students.
The definition according to Webster’s states a particular burden of obligation. fifty percent of the words to describe this condition strike terror to any commitment-avoiding student.
Still, with many people requiring it from many others, students still gravitate towards procrastination or defiance.
Responsibility is an easy concept to understand, but an even easier concept to ignore. As students, we have a responsibility to get to class on time, turn our papers in on time, and the list continues on. We turn a cold shoulder towards responsibility, and high five the activities we enjoy, like time with friends.
Some students ignore responsibility because they feel like there is not enough time in the day to fit everything in that they would like to accomplish, and because of this more important tasks get sacrificed.
If time was taken to stop and analyze our time in a day, it would be easy to see that a lot of valuable time is wasted on activities that are not productive. For some, it’s normal to sleep 12 hours a day. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults older than 17 and younger than 55, require seven to nine hours of sleep per night.
The NSF also states that people who get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep live longer, happier, and healthier lives than those who get less or more sleep.
Overcoming lack of responsibility has easy steps, but takes discipline. The first step to take is setting a reasonable time to go to bed.
Time management is also a crucial part of achieving responsibility. Planning out the next day will give a student an idea of what commitments they have, and how much time they can dedicate to them. Students can also think of time management on a larger scale.
Instead of planning the next day, plan for the week or even the semester. All instructors’ hand out a course syllabus at the beginning of each semester, and most of them include the due dates for the assignments and exams.
Students should plan on completing the assignments as early as possible to reduce stress, and free up some time later down the road.
As far as getting to class on time, the best policy is, if you are not early, you’re late. Arriving early also shows others that the person is committed and dedicated.
Teaching ourselves the discipline to do the things we might not enjoy, but know is required of us is the hardest part of being responsible, so take baby steps. If ever in question, Benjamin Franklin said it best, “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what could be done today.”
