In high school we had syllabi. I got it the first day of class, threw it out, and went on with the year. In college, not so much.

Classes and professors live by those syllabi.  We might be getting something assigned every night, but are still expected to check the syllabus and read whatever that says, too.

Tests? Same thing. We can go through a week of class and there will be no mention of an exam, then boom, next thing you know, you walk in Monday morning and you get an exam handed to you.

Lesson three: read the syllabus and keep up with it.

So this year I decided to read each syllabus and do what it assigns.

For my film class, I knew I couldn’t get behind, since it only meets once a week.

“The homework is to watch this movie,” I told my friends. So at 10:00 p.m. the night before the class, we watched the movie. It meant that I didn’t get to bed until around 1 a.m. and class was at 8 a.m., but that’s what I get for procrastinating.

Problem with lesson three: Professors live by the syllabus just as much as they don’t.

When we walked into class the next morning, off minimal hours of sleep, we were satisfied that we had completed the homework.

“Today, we will watch a film,” she announced.

It was none other than the movie I had sat through not 10 hours before.

It wasn’t bad, and I understood it more the second time, but still. I could have been doing other homework, sleeping, or eating at Late Night. All three things that are better than watching a movie I don’t have to.