How Much Work is Too Much Work?

Marissa Poggio

As the semester continues to fly by, more and more students seem to be scrambling into the campus library in order to complete their homework.  Most students who attend college also have jobs and other responsibilities in their lives, and sometimes the workload can be overwhelming.  For some reason, the idea of piling up loads of papers and homework for students to do seems highly appealing to many professors.  There comes a point in every college student’s life when he or she thinks, “How much more work am I going to have to do?”

The high pressures of completing all school work, studying, showing up for a job, and of course having something of a social life, becomes very challenging.  Todd Smith, a sophomore majoring in History Education has a lot on his plate. “Working forty hours a week and taking five classes is difficult.  Most professors are understanding and helpful, but once in a while you get the elitist who wants to make you suffer.” It is definitely tough to juggle the demands of a harsh professor’s workload along with extracurricular activities.  C.W. Post likes to promote clubs, and it is a challenge to become involved in school activities, when most students have other things going on.

Casey Curran, a junior who is majoring in Political Science said, “Most of us are going to school and working at least one job while trying to get all of our papers and studying done.  That, in addition to all of the social pressures of college, accumulates a lot of stress in our lives.”

Time management plays an important role in the lives of college students.  It is important to set free time aside in order to finish schoolwork that needs to be done.  So why do professors give a lot of work?  Professors may have the intention of trying to build the qualities of responsibility and hard work in students. These are characteristics that companies look for when interviewing candidates for jobs.  The professors are preparing students for a professional life.  Professor Christopher Mauceri of the History Department who was once a college student at C.W. Post can relate.  “I know students work, and it is hard to find balance.  I went here so I do know what it is like.” There are professors that are very understanding towards students.  College should be the first priority in student’s lives and this is the time when students can learn how to manage their time to be better equipped for the future.

Of course not all students feel that the professors give out an unreasonable amount of work.  Matt Price, a Physical Education major in his junior year knows how to balance his time. “I enjoy my classes a lot.  The professors are very fair and give out a sensible amount of school work.”  Noelle Darby, also a junior, majoring in Childhood Education also feels the workload from professors isn’t too bad.  “I feel in the beginning of the semester, I didn’t get assigned that much work. Once midterms came, I had a lot of papers and studying to do.  Everything started to be due at the same time.”  In the end, while professors try to figure out how much work they should assign to their students, it is definitely important for them to keep in mind the other responsibilities students have outside the classroom.  Students need to cope with an easy class without any work, or a difficult class that requires a lot of extra work.  Even though at the time, doing tons of work for one class may seem a bit unfair, the truth is that one day it may be beneficial.