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Dan wasn’t usually a slacker. He
attended class on a regular basis (except for that incident with the fake
funeral bulletin). He belonged to several campus clubs and sports (in which he
watched movies, slept, and played video games). He even made time for community
service (giving blood once a semester).
But one area sapped him of all motivation. One field presented obstacles he could not conquer. In one thing alone did he completely, face-plantingly fail: homework. Papers, projects, research, objects of displeasure and the like. Sitting, thinking for hours on end, staring at a screen til his eyes turned bloodshot red, was not appealing in any sense. Unless you were a masochistic, socially inactive geek, which he wasn’t.
Dan wished it were fun in some little way, but from the mouth of a teacher, everything was work.
Work. His muscles tensed, his lungs in a straitjacket, just thinking about it. Knowing it would inevitably be left til the last minute, a mountain ready to drown him in rubble, only made it worse. He tried sleeping (with nightmares); he tried breathing exercises (while watching TV); he tried herbal tea (with ice cream); he even tried friggin’ yoga. Nothing helped. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, couldn’t immerse himself in another activity and relax, save energy to be utilized later, because the homework was always there, fanning his worries into flames anew.
But he couldn’t sit down and actually do it either.
But one area sapped him of all motivation. One field presented obstacles he could not conquer. In one thing alone did he completely, face-plantingly fail: homework. Papers, projects, research, objects of displeasure and the like. Sitting, thinking for hours on end, staring at a screen til his eyes turned bloodshot red, was not appealing in any sense. Unless you were a masochistic, socially inactive geek, which he wasn’t.
Dan wished it were fun in some little way, but from the mouth of a teacher, everything was work.
Work. His muscles tensed, his lungs in a straitjacket, just thinking about it. Knowing it would inevitably be left til the last minute, a mountain ready to drown him in rubble, only made it worse. He tried sleeping (with nightmares); he tried breathing exercises (while watching TV); he tried herbal tea (with ice cream); he even tried friggin’ yoga. Nothing helped. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, couldn’t immerse himself in another activity and relax, save energy to be utilized later, because the homework was always there, fanning his worries into flames anew.
But he couldn’t sit down and actually do it either.