Day 9: First Assignment

"Day 9. The day that really hit me: I actually have assignments to do. I knew they were coming—I had seen them listed on the syllabus. But I guess I thought I could think about them later. Well, ‘later’ had arrived, and my first Business Administration assignment was due in two days.

I sat at my desk, staring at the assignment brief like it was a puzzle that had no solution. The instructions weren’t that complicated. It was a case study about a fictional company, and I had to write a 1500-word report on the company’s financial strategy and suggest improvements. Simple enough, right? Except I had no clue where to start. ‘Cash flow analysis’? ‘Return on investment’? 

I pulled out my notes and tried to make sense of the terminology. But all the terms started to blend together into one big, incomprehensible soup.

Faisal messaged me: Bro, you got a head start on the assignment?

I sighed. Not even close.

Same. I’m going to wing It was his response.

I hated to admit it, but I was tempted to do the same. Winging it sounded so easy, like the ultimate shortcut. But I also didn’t want to fail my first assignment. I imagined Dr. Lee—our lecturer—grading my paper with an ‘F’ while muttering, What is this nonsense?

So, I did what every other clueless college student does: I Googled it. I typed in ‘How to write a business case study analysis’ and watched three tutorial videos on YouTube. The first video was a guy with a British accent explaining the process like I should’ve known it all along. He spoke in a calm, authoritative voice, but I couldn’t catch most of what he said. 

The second video was more helpful. It broke things down into simple steps, like how to identify key issues, evaluate strategies, and suggest improvements. I jotted down a few points on a sticky note, convincing myself this would work.

I opened my Word document and stared at the blinking cursor for what felt like an hour. Where do I even start? My fingers hovered over the keyboard, but nothing came out.

Eventually, I decided to take the plunge. I wrote a paragraph. It was probably terrible, but at least it was something. I didn’t care. I told myself it was a rough draft, and I’d fix it later. But of course, ‘later’ turned into ‘tomorrow,’ and I hadn’t even finished half the report by the end of the night.

Faisal checked in again: How’s it going?

I stared at my document and typed: I think I’m dying inside.

Just push through, bro. The pain will end when it’s over.

I really hoped so. But as I glanced at the clock and realised I hadn’t even started my conclusion yet, I felt my life choices catching up to me.

Lesson of the day: Assignments never look as bad as they do the night before they’re due. And procrastination? That’s the real enemy. I just hope I can survive this one."