It occurs to me, indeed as I write this very blog, that I am extremely hard to get motivated into writing papers or doing schoolwork at times. I have noticed that these times occur especially for me when I am in my apartment and surrounded by my guitar and my PS3 and the internet and so on. In the book Fast Families and Virtual Children, authors Agger and Shelton have illuminated a new line of reasoning that may lend itself to explaining this kind of distracted behavior.
To further clarify, I don’t always have trouble getting motivated to study and indeed I enjoy most of the subjects that I have encountered in my academic career. In fact I, not being a student that lives nearby the university campus, find myself with hours of downtime between classes and nothing else to occupy my time with but studying. Furthermore, at the university, in that academic environment, the pursuit of my studies is foremost on my mind. So with my admitted energy for learning what could possibly be my academic stumbling point as soon as I cross the threshold to my apartment?
There are the usual suspects such as the ease of access of frivolous media via the internet, which I am sure has a contributive component, or even my guitar or desire to run. However, there are similar activities on campus that I could engage in, during that downtime that I mentioned, if I really wanted to avoid studying. This line of reasoning coupled with my understanding of Fast Families and Virtual Children has led me to search for a deeper and more involved answer.
What started me on this path was Agger and Shelton’s detailed account of the mess that is the modern American Family. In that account is the recent phenomena of the merging of the workplace and the home. As the authors explain it, through email and electronic media as well as reversed family and workplace roles there is a significant blurring between where the workplace ends and where the home begins.
If we can work at home and on the road, as well as in the office cubicle, where, then, is the job site? If “parenting” takes place in the workplace day-care center, from the office desk using instant messaging and e-mail, and while driving , using cellular phones, where exactly is the home? ( Agger & Shelton 2007).
What is produced by this blurring is an uncomfortable and stress filled environment where there is simply no escape from the worries of the workplace. There is no buffer that can provide a space available for pursuits that may be less productive but are far more personally enriching. I find myself wondering if this line of reasoning does not also apply to college students. If class and study are all part of the workplace of academia, with the deadlines and the stress, then would it not follow that having a space for personal endeavors devoid of academic interference might be key to lowering student stress levels?
Lastly, I being a fairly nontraditional student, living on my own far away from campus, can indeed identify where I feel the need to maintain a space in which there is no test anxiety or paper deadlines. When I can study for hours on campus but only in short spurts in my home, it seems to follow that keeping my work and home life separate to a certain degree is a good and necessary thing. However I wonder about the new students who eat, sleep and live on campus. How does this blurring of boundaries, work and school, affect them?
Agger, B, & Shelton, B. (2007). Fast Families, Virtual Children. Paradigm Publishers: Boulder.
I find these boundaries so hard to define as technology does become more intertwined with our school experiences. It is very hard for me to part with the anxieties of school when Friday comes and I feel like I should be able to relax a little bit on my two days away from school. Even when I do something fun on the weekends, its nearly impossible for me to allow my mind to rest thinking about all the things I need to do to ensure I'm on time with every assignment. Having a life outside of college does not mean having a life apart from college. Technology has blurred the lines of these boundaries from school to weekend (for me) by the fact my emails come directly to my phone. If I get an email that has anything to do with a school assignment or reminds me of school in anyway, I can hardly relax no matter what I'm spending my weekend doing. I feel like our duties follow us everywhere and finding this space for personal endeavors has become close to impossible to find, no matter if you live on campus or not!
ReplyDeleteIt seems we all find it harder to study at home. As students we are even more likely to be susceptible to the blurring between academic life and home life. With so many of our experiences, like relationships, jobs, hobbies, clubs and friendships tied to school we inevitable find aspects of school life intruding into other aspects of our lives, especially homework. Who hasn’t taken their homework with them on the camping trip or party weekend that just can’t be missed?
ReplyDeletePerhaps as students we are distracted at home because of the overwhelming pressure of college life and homework. Unconsciously, we may be enacting out own time rebellion, taking back the leisure time that should be associated with our home if it were the sanctuary we all want and need it to be. Instead it is a staging ground for our academic achievement, a place to prepare for work and in the end just a bed, a fridge and a couple of screens.
It may be harder and harder to distinguish the work - home separation as we move from the academic environment to the ‘real’ working environment. Many jobs demand that you take work home in order to be competitive for raises and promotions, we must learn now how to negotiate what demands we will allow to intrude on our home life and how we will cope with those that we can’t.
I definately find it difficut to study at home! There are enough things for a person to do, but as a non tradtional student trying to manage school, work and a family as well as duties that I have in my Chuch, there are even more distractions. Not to mention the internet and cell phone and t.v.! It has been so bad lately that I have told my husband that I need one day to do nothing! I am on the go from the time I get up in the morning until I fall into the bed late at night. Homework has to wait until everyone is in bed and it is quiet. I don't have the option to do school work at school, although I think it would make it easier without the demands of my life in my ear. It of course doesn't help that I am the queen of procrastination! It is safe to say that that adds even more stress!
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