Divide and Conquer by Lindsey

Divide and Conquer by Lindsey - December 2017 Scholarship Essay

If you were to interview a group of high school students about their most disliked homework assignment, your answer would be some form of a long-duration school project. This project may be the annual research paper for English class, or the scale model of a battle from the Civil War. When asked the reasoning for the dislike of the dreaded school project, you would most likely hear that school projects take too long, or that the student has procrastinated making them impossible to complete up to a teacher’s high standards. However, most students don’t realize how their strategy of completing a school project may be the only component causing the delay in progress instead of the project itself.
The strategy in which you use to complete a school project determines the quality of the project, the time it takes to complete, and the stress caused by the project deadline. When I am assigned a school project, my first task is to open my online planner and enter the deadline into my schedule. By recording the deadline in my planner, I am guaranteeing that I will not forget the deadline in the future, and I am also adding a visual reminder to complete the project that I will see every time I open my planner. Now that the deadline is recorded, I determine the amount of time that I have been given to complete the assignment, as well as recognizing any other projects or prior commitments I may have on my schedule.
With the predetermined amount of time to complete the project in mind, I begin to create an outline containing all of the different aspects of the project that I have to accomplish prior to submitting my finished project. As I create the outline, I am also predicting how much time each section of work will require to perfect and create a group of smaller tasks with short interval deadlines as to eliminate the ability to delay completion of the project to the last minute. When making my deadlines, I always budget extra time throughout the project, especially at the end. This extra time allows for other plans to be made and adjustments in case I have other large homework assignments to complete throughout the allotted time I’ve given to complete my project.
These interval deadlines also stimulate constant progression through the project. Now that I have my interval deadlines set, I can begin working through all the different divided sections of the projects at my predetermined pace. By scheduling every facet of my project, I have greatly reduced my stress levels by recognizing that I have enough time to complete the project, and I will not be surprised by the amount of work needing to be completed as I approach the deadline.
Upon receiving a school project, the first decision made is whether the project will be completed at a steady pace using a strategy, or if the project will be completed hastily the night before the deadline. My ultimate strategy to achieve success on a school project is to manage my time wisely and ensure proper progress is made in terms of the final product. I have successfully completed many school projects using the strategy mentioned above, and this strategy has strongly influenced my achievements regarding the finalized projects.