You guys, let’s talk about deadlines. I’ve never been the type of person who meets every deadline—case in point, this blog post is a day late—but sometimes I just have more pressing matters, like watching the entire third season of Game of Thrones in one night, or staring at my ceiling as I think about the things I should be doing. I think everyone can relate to that feeling at the end of the day, when your back muscles ache from the weight of that fifteen-pound sack you’ve been slugging around, and its full of all of these papers just waiting to be studied but all you want to do is crawl into bed with a cup of tea and find out what perils the Stark family face next.

This feeling is called procrastination, and I’m kind of an expert. You’d think after four years of high school, I would have mastered the balance between finishing homework and still being able to enjoy life outside of school (aka, meeting deadlines). However, as senior year as progressed, I’ve only come to realize that enjoying life outside of school is so much more fun than…well, school. And college applications. And the SAT.  And thinking about next year. Because, lets be honest, not thinking about it is so much easier than thinking about it.

What is a deadline? It’s just a word, given the power to cause stress and anxiety, it makes people snap and succumb to pressure. Deadlines are a construct of society, completely pulled from thin air by the modern man.

It turns out though, being able to meet deadlines is a crucial element to being a writer.  And a member of civilization. Authors need to meet their publisher’s deadlines, and their own personal deadlines, or books would never be written. Deadlines are what make us productive, and they keep order in work and in life.

So I guess, I have to cooperate with deadlines. Maybe I’ll actually write a blog post on time. Maybe I’ll stop obsessing over how boss Khaleesi is with her dragons, and actually start doing work. Just one more episode…

Josie Weidner, class of 2016