Turning something in 5 days early!

Throughout my academic career, I have normally started assignments as early as possible and have
taken time trying to perfect them until their due dates.  No matter how early I “finish” a project, I keep
thinking about it and return back to make changes until the evening before it must be submitted. At MIT,
I oftentimes do not get to begin my work as early as I would like to due my quantity of psets and exams,
but I do my best.  
On the contrary, my situation for this Data Summary required starting very early and submitting the
assignment long before the deadline.  We had to start our Data Summary at the very beginning of
October in order to ensure we could get it done by Wednesday, October 9 (5 days early!!).  I was going to
Barcelona, and Courtney was going to San Francisco. I did not want to think about MIT at all when I was
away. I forced myself to sacrifice my weekend leading up to my travels and to overcome my fear of
submitting assignments early.
So, we worked hard the week before we left and throughout the entire weekend before our respective
departures.  I never knew a single assignment could consume so many countless hours of my life, so I
am quite intimidated for the Research Article assignment.  I felt weird being in Barcelona on Monday
and knowing that all of my classmates were drowning in the assignment. Meanwhile, I had been
vacationing in peace and had not opened my laptop in 4 days.  Despite this strange feeling, I felt
confident in the work we had submitted and I was happy with my determination and success with
finishing early. I will try to do this again (or at least start very early) for the next assignment.
Anyways, I have learned that when it is possible, I can benefit from trying my hardest to finish
assignments early and to not dwell on them.  I could have spent an additional entire weekend thinking
about my assignment, but instead I got a (much needed) break from MIT. I am bad at memes, so instead
here are some pictures to show what I was able to do last weekend by getting a major assignment done
early:




Overall, I enjoyed Module 1 a lot and thought learning about DNA damage and repair was incredibly
interesting. I hope to take more classes relating to this topic. Writing a lengthy scientific report for the
first time since high school was certainly challenging, but I learned a lot through the process and feel as
if I have the preparation needed for the Research Article. Although I certainly won't be going on any
crazy vacations again this semester, I have learned that finishing an assignment early without dwelling
on it can provide a more well-rounded approach to my life at MIT.





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