Taking Advantage of Opportunities - Procrastinate Less in 2016 by Alfred

Taking Advantage of Opportunities - Procrastinate Less in 2016 by Alfred - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

One New Year’s resolution that I made for 2016 is to procrastinate less. I chose this over resolutions such as “study more” or “try to get A’s in all my classes” because it fits my life more. Outside of studies I easily find myself swamped with work from my extracurricular activities, scholarships, and after school job at our family ranch. Following my resolution to procrastinate less will insure that I manage my time effectively so as to complete all my that is expected of me in a wholehearted fashion.
Procrastinate is defined by Merriam-Webster as such - “to be slow or late about doing something that should be done : delay doing something until a later time because you do not want to do it, because you are lazy, etc.”. This past semester I have become accustom to procrastinating speeches, assignments, journal entries, and worksheets at least once each. Often times I would leave some of these assignments unfished and sometimes untouched until the night before it was due. This resulted in poor quality of work on my part, a feeling of defeat by myself inside, and a negative affect on my health.
I began this resolution on January 1, 2016 like many other people do. Over the past 16 days I’ve seen my grades at an all time high, my stress level at a newfound low, and my personal time to unwind has been more enjoyable than ever. I’ve taken up a second hobby of filling out scholarships to help pay for my college education instead of just watching seasons of Netflix series like The Office and Parks and Recreation. My resolution has forced me make a definite decision in the importance of my education next fall. I am accepted to attend North Dakota State University majoring in Agricultural Education. Going into a Bachelor’s degree program and landing a teaching career in a small North Dakota town will be the easy part. But paying back all my student loans will be not so simple. That’s why I’ve also made a goal for myself to apply for at least 20 scholarships from now until April. At the pace I’m currently at, I’ll have achieved my goal all thanks to procrastinating less.
The 2016 New Year’s resolution I have set for myself is to procrastinate less. After doing some honest searching inside, I realized that much of my time was being whisked away and I was subsequently wasting many opportunities in sports, education, and leadership organizations. That is why I made this resolution for myself; to make up for some lost time and take advantage of all the opportunities that have come my way by procrastination less in 2016. Looking back on 2015, I’ve realized just how important time is to me especially when it comes to education.