Edit Desk: Getting back in the swing of things

Eli Mundy

I have traditionally been a relatively proactive and fastidious person. Completing assignments and studying in a timely manner have always been priorities of mine. Of course there were times in high school—like after receiving college decisions—when I would lose focus. This would happen at times during my freshman year at Lehigh, too, but never for a sustained period of time.

Because the pandemic has restructured the way we do pretty much everything, I find myself falling into the trap of procrastination and laziness much more frequently. I have also found that I am more complacent with receiving subpar grades, when in the past, poor results would have motivated me to perform better.

Some of this has to do with the lack of structure, I feel, and some of it has to do with the monotony of completing the same routine in the same room over and over again. 

While there are a few advantages to doing school online—it provides some flexibility and cuts down on commuting time—the intentionality of going to campus to sit down and take a test or study in FML is an important part of doing well at Lehigh.

Getting a change of scenery and identifying certain places for work and certain places for leisure, are both important for mental health and for succeeding in school. I, like many other students, have not been on Lehigh’s campus in over a year at this point, and it’s made finding that balance almost impossible.

During my freshman year, I tried to make it a rule to never do homework in my dorm room. Being in such close proximity to where you sleep is not conducive to being productive, and having friends a couple doors down doesn’t help either. 

Now, without access to buildings on campus, that rule is out the window. I live with a couple of housemates, instead of just one roommate, so this problem is compounded even more.

Furthermore, the community bonds built as a result of sharing campus spaces are impossible to make now. 

There is no rewarding breath of fresh air after finishing a test and walking out of Maginnes Hall or Rauch, and no sense of camaraderie shared among peers all studying together late at night in FML or Linderman. If there is, social distancing protocols prevent students from sitting with one another, and both libraries close long before midnight. 

There is something to be said for the shared anxiety and anticipation felt in a lecture hall before a test is handed out, and the collective sigh of relief when it’s done. Rolling out of bed a few minutes before taking a test and closing your computer before getting back in bed at the end don’t exactly provide the same feeling. 

Zoom being the new primary form of communication in school doesn’t help the issue much either. I’m sure most students have had professors throughout their time at Lehigh that ban computer use in class because of the array of distractions that they present. If I’ve learned anything from the past two semesters, it’s that these distractions are real and plentiful, especially when it’s nearly impossible for professors to monitor their students’ activity.

As summer approaches, I’m becoming increasingly optimistic about the future, given the positive news about the vaccine rollout and Lehigh’s updates about next fall, which are more promising than pretty much any of the communication we’ve received throughout the past year. I’m hoping that once Lehigh has reverted back to its pre-pandemic state and we are all back in classrooms, that most of these issues will be non-factors.

When things do go back to normal, it will of course be important to get back into the swing of things, instead of going through the motions, as I have been for quite some time now. I am hoping that this new set of habits —procrastination, lack of effort and complacency—isn’t one of the many legacies left behind by the pandemic. 

To avoid this, it’s going to take a concerted effort on my part to devote time and energy to rebuilding good habits after what feels like an eternity of building bad ones.