You may call the kettle black, but does it know it’s black? It’s hard to see yourself for who your really are. It’s not like you can read the thoughts of your friends and family and learn that your a nice person or a smart one. Most of your self image is probably based on information that has been given to you by others. So how do you know what type of worker you are? How do you know if you’re the dreaded slacker?
Do other students avoid joining your group?
When your professor announces group assignments, does everyone around you disappear, including your friends? If so, the other students are trying to tell you something.
Students who don’t complete their work for a project create a lot of extra work for the other group members. So, nobody wants to work with a slacker. Some students will choose to work with a smaller group, rather than welcome a slacker into their project. A slacker just creates extra stress that nobody wants to deal with.
Are group members constantly pestering you?
If you get a lot of emails, text messages, and phone calls from your group members demanding to know when your section will be finished that’s probably a sign that you’re slacking off.
Sure, you might feel that there is plenty of time to get the work done, but don’t forget that the group still needs to review your work and compile everything in one document. That doesn’t sound like much, but it can be a long and difficult task, especially if members turn in subpar work.
Is your work as detailed as everyone else’s?
If you often, get emails from professors or group project members asking you to add this or change that, maybe you should take another look at your work. It’s pretty clear that you’re a slacker if your work doesn’t follow the assignment, lacks the required citations and graphs, or is way too short.
You’re in college. You have to complete the work, and most assignments should probably take you more than 2 hours to complete.
Does your professor know your name?
Some professors never learn their students’ names, but in those cases you probably have a Teachers Assistant (TA) who’s responsible for the grading. However, if your professor recognizes everyone else in your class, chances are you’re not the best student you could be.
Take a look at how often you attend class. Could you be a more active participant in the classroom?
Are You Always Working Against the Clock?
If you usually start your projects just a few hours before the deadline you probably are a slacker. You had days, maybe even weeks to get that project polished up, and you just didn’t do it. Even if you do have an excuse for pushing the project back (like work or another class project), can you honestly say that you didn’t have a single hour in which you could have been working on your project?
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