The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

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The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

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Brian Richardson, Contributor • March 28, 2024
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Students should still do homework in college

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Forgetting to do homework can lead to unneeded stress and a weakened immune system. (Courtesy of Getty Images)

The freedom that comes with college is offered in a variety of forms. Your mother isn’t here to tell you when your curfew is, when you can go out or what prior obligations you have to go to.

It is all up to you.

That being said, the choice of being responsible, or irresponsible, is technically a choice. You can go out whatever day of the week you please, come back to the dorm or crash at whoever’s place you end up with that night, and if you’re up for it, go to class the next day.

However, these choices all have consequences.

With the day-after hangover you will probably have, next comes a mountain of assignments, quizzes and chapter readings you have failed to do.

The snowball effect that occurs when people choose to ignore their school responsibilities can actually be avoided AND you can still go out a couple nights a week.

Just do your homework.

Most homework does not count in college. In fact, if you’re lucky, homework will count somewhere between 5-10% as an undergraduate student to help boost your grade in the class.

Even though it does not highly affect your overall grade in comparison to tests or finals, you should still be doing it.

The benefits of consistently doing homework outweigh the actual tediousness of having to complete it.

The following examples are a few reasons how students can benefit from doing homework.

  1. You won’t fall behind. Whether it be sickness, sleeping in or the ever-dreaded hangover, if you are habitually reading your textbook and doing the assigned homework, you’re less likely to miss a lot of crucial concepts if you happen to be absent.
  2. Some homework questions may appear on the test. It’s rare that a professor would actually use the same homework question for a test, but the same type of problems will definitely be on the test. If you’ve already practiced them multiple times (especially the head-scratchers), you’ll be less likely to have points taken off for minor errors, helping your overall grade.
  3. You’ll understand what you’re learning better. This is reiterated by every professor during syllabus week, but they say it for good reason. You can read the textbook and show up for lecture, but to fully comprehend a lesson or concept you are learning in class, you need to apply your knowledge. Homework shows you exactly how much progress you are making, and it can help you perfect those mistakes before the exam.

College students have been doing homework for over 12 years of their lives. There is an obvious reason why our teachers have been assigning us homework since the age of six, twelve and eighteen: it helps us improve.

While we may be growing up and becoming more independent, we still need the structure of homework to help us check our progress as we further our education while juggling adult responsibilities.

It may be a pain, but the results that you gain from doing homework makes it worthwhile.

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