Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Early Bird


My English 101 course was taught Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 9 am. And on a Monday morning early in the semester the professor gave a reading assignment and then assigned several short essays which were due in two weeks. The next day, at 8:59 am, a mere 24 hours later, a highly ambitious student attempted to hand in the completed assignment. The professor refused to accept it. The professor said I have since changed my mind about the assignment. I now plan on having everyone read something else and then write a short paper instead. And the student was annoyed and responded But I already completed it. Yet the professor just shrugged his shoulders and in an emotionless  matter-of-factly tone remarked The early bird catches the worm; but it is the early worm that gets eaten.

Sometimes procrastination advances time management--efficiency is better served by patience. Eagerness is not always a virtue. So being a late worm is equally fortuitous as being an early bird. Discipline often requires unrestraint. And it’s not a bad plan to put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Good things can happen to those who wait.

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