In college, homework is serious business. It’s serious because it’s a lot different from high school homework.

In high school, homework is done after school and that’s a maybe. Normally your teachers gave you worksheets to get all of that valuable information sunk way deep down inside that brain of yours. When you got home, it sat in your book bag while you played basketball outside with your friends, Facebook stalked that guy you’ve been keeping an eye on in third period or watched television while eating cereal from a cup because you’re too lazy to get a bowl from the top shelf.

In other words, high school homework didn’t get done. And if you were enough of a teacher’s pet like me, your sob story was sufficient enough to excuse you from homework.

College homework, however, is different. In college, you sit through an entire class period worth of lecture and discussion. When it is finally time to leave, there are no papers or worksheets being handed out at the door. Instead, your professor gave you a syllabus with reading assignments listed at the beginning of the semester.

This is both a blessing and a curse. You don’t technically have homework to do when you get home so you can nap and drink and nap again. At the same time, you do have homework. And that takes your own will power to do.

Professors don’t give you assignments at the end of the day to be sure the knowledge got there. Instead, they expect you to come to class with the knowledge already there.

You could skip out on your reading, but you’ll only end up hurting yourself in the end.  And your professor will know when you come to class the next day avoiding eye contact during discussion.

Do yourself a favor and do the homework and reading in advance. You’ll be prepared for class and save yourself from a homework headache.