How can I overcome the frustration of missing a homework deadline?

[sinClair]

So I was finishing a problem set early this morning and felt great after I was able to complete it because I had been putting a lot of work into it. I decided to take a short nap before class. But I somehow fell into a deep sleep, and I didn't wake up when my alarm sounded. As a result, I missed my math class and not only did I miss an important lecture but also failed to turn in my set on time. Now when I woke up I ran to the office and handed my set in, and my prof took it without any fuss.

But afterwards I realized that I will probably get a late on the homework, which is half credit. Now I'm guessing the points lost will impact my grade by around 3% or so. But with this I feel like I fell behind the rest of my class, and what's more, is that it's just frustrating because I will have an at best modest homework record because I couldn't wake up today. I was considering telling my prof why I was late, but I figured he wouldn't be interested. So I guess I wanted to vent my frustration and ask if there's anything I can do in this situation.

In the long run maybe I'll forget about this--but in the near future I defintely will not be able to shake this terrible feeling.

 

[cristo]

Well, the only thing I can tell you is that you shouldn't worry about things like this: getting half marks on one piece of coursework is not going to damage your final degree mark in the slightest. The most important thing is that you did the homework, and you handed it in. Perhaps in future you should avoid doing the work on the morning it is due in: that's probably the most important lesson to take away from this--don't leave things to the last minute. By the way, I agree with the judgment you made in not telling your professor why: I can't imagine that he will have any sympathy if you say that you missed his class because "you were sleeping!"

Anyway, just make sure this doesn't happen again, and continue to complete homeworks and hand them in on time in future.

 

[chroot]

I'd venture that every student who has ever attended college has accidentally slept through at least one exam, or one homework deadline. Don't sweat it too much.

- Warren

 

[oedipa maas]

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0093779/6120_16_2.jpg

Life isn't fair.

My opinion probably doesn't count for much, but you sound like a good person.

 

[Moonbear]

Well, sleeping through exams would be rare, but sleeping through a lecture and turning in a homework late are very common. I think you're right that you wouldn't get any sympathy for that (oh, if only I could miss giving a lecture because I overslept...do you think the students would understand and let me make it up to them on a Saturday?), but I also don't think you should beat yourself up over it. It would be a rather unusual grading policy if a single homework assignment would make or break your grade.

Collecting and grading homework is usually more a tool of the professor who wants to keep his/her students on their toes (so they don't get behind) and to see if there are common problems the class is running into that need to be addressed before exam time. It's generally something done by the more benevolent professors, believe it or not. It's the exams that really count.

And, yes, the lesson seems to be to finish your homework sooner than the last minute...or set triple alarms to wake you up! Or maybe it's that you should wait until you've gotten to class and turned in your assignment before falling asleep. Okay, maybe not that one.

 

[sinClair]

Yeah I really should not have pushed the assignment back. But it was a busy week, and I thought I could make it. Had I woke up on time, I would be comfortably done with my major obligations for the week. So part of the frustration was having these high expectations crushed.

I feel like homework lateness should penalize those who actually fail to complete the homework on time rather than fail to have it at a certain time and place--although it would really be impossible to distinguish who really completed the work and who is just using extra time. So, without question, I can't argue against the policy. I know I actually should be thankful that my prof accepts late hw.

Now that I've had some time to think about it, my bigger concern is that the lecture I missed was supposed to be a review session for an upcomming exam, and it will not be totally easy to get notes since I don't know anyone particularly well in the class. Further notes dosn't acount for everything the professor said during the review session...

 

[sutupidmath]

Well, i haven't slept before any class, but i almost always seem to misplace sections due for a certain date. In other words, i always hand in the homework on the wrong section, that is one week before the proper due date. So i am seeing my prof pretty often lately, to set my homework on the right place. This is painful!

 

[colin.mcenroe]

It has happened to everyone, it isn't a big deal. Just know that you know and you can prove that you are a good student with your exam scores from the homework you worked so hard on that you slept through its deadline.

 

[Moonbear]

Now that I've had some time to think about it, my bigger concern is that the lecture I missed was supposed to be a review session for an upcomming exam, and it will not be totally easy to get notes since I don't know anyone particularly well in the class. Further notes dosn't acount for everything the professor said during the review session...

Well, the upside is you DID attend the lectures where the material was originally presented. If you've been keeping up with your studying all along, you should be well prepared anyway. The limitation of not having attended that class is that you weren't there to get any tips on which topics will be emphasized on the exam. The bottom line is that it means you're just going to have to study harder to know everything rather than being able to focus in on the things covered in the review.

 

[Cyrus]

Be grateful you get ANYTHING. Here you get a big fat zero.