Senior column: Nathan Sweeney

Nathan Sweeney, features + in-depth editor| May 4, 2022

I had an epiphany about homework recently that I didn’t realize a year ago: I spend more time complaining about my assignments than actually doing them.

College: University of Arkansas

Major: Business

I wrote a piece for TKC last year called “Homework sucks, and I’m done doing it.”

I stand by that statement.

Well, the first part anyway. Homework does, in fact, suck. But, not gonna lie, I never stopped doing it. Shocker, I know. Don’t get me wrong, I hated every moment of it, but I would hate flunking into the class of 2023 even more.

But I did have an epiphany about homework recently that I didn’t realize a year ago: I spend more time complaining about my assignments than actually doing them. And I know most of you are just as guilty. At least once you’ve probably scrolled on TikTok for hours, cried about the assignment you just procrastinated, posed for a Snapchat photo in tears and posted it to your private story entitled “APUSH me off a cliff” or “cracktivities” with the caption “Thanks (insert first name of teacher here)” before even looking at the worksheet that probably would’ve taken you 15 minutes in the first place.

I’m onto you.

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Something about our generation’s culture just screams ‘I want to suffer and I want everyone else to know it.’

It’s OK, I’ve done (less weird) versions of that myself. We can’t help it; something about our generation’s culture just screams “I want to suffer and I want everyone else to know it.” But how much better would life be if people didn’t retake that photo of themselves crying 10 times to find the perfect balance of distressed and cute, and just did the work?

A year ago, my Sunday “homework” days were 70% complaining and procrastinating, and 30% homework. Now, through the art of multitasking, I’ve learned to complain and work at the same time, freeing up that 70% to do more important things and actually enjoy myself. Doing that, my mental health (which I swore was plagued by the evils of school), is substantially better, because I was mostly getting dragged down by my own negativity.

Homework sucks, and I’d love to be done doing it. But I can’t. I’ll always have annoying obligations, and I’ll never be able to just ignore them. But life isn’t about those difficult moments; it’s not meant to revolve around negativity. Flex the fun you’re having after you’re done with the assignments, not the tears you’re shedding during.

You have to push through the sucky things to get to the less sucky things. Suck it up.