“Teachers give students way too much homework. We can’t get it done in one night, then they … lower our grade. What’s the point?”

This was a quote by a Des Moines student earlier this week.

Probably not by a college student. But those comments do undoubtedly hold true for any college student.

Professors give students a pair of 50-page chapters to read for each class period that sometimes (or often) isn’t read the night before or even the weekend before. Some of us still cram the night before an exam despite learning from experience or being told by others to not even think of trying such a thing if we expect to earn an A plus.

Rarely does a student get everything done so he is caught up for the next day.

There are some who say taking 18 credits and doing ungodly amounts of homework each night tests students’ abilities to manage time wisely. Maybe so, especially since before college, students were advised to write down what’s needed to be done for the day. Have a planner. Make goals.

We often ask each other, “Did you get a lot done today?” and usually the answer is “no.”

Most of us do plan and list our goals for the day, but we all know accomplishing everything sounds good only in theory.

To be able to meet your goals of reading four chapters, studying for an exam, attending all your classes without falling asleep, going to work, attending campus meetings and having at least somewhat of a social life all in one day can only be completely successful if there were a few more hours in the day.

Therefore, it is important to focus, not on whether you met all your goals for the day, but on whether you made progress.

Although meeting goals and making progress may sound interchangeable, the word “progress” has a bad connotation with it.

Historically, progress led to change, which is something people don’t always welcome with open arms.

The progress of nuclear technology led to the atomic bomb. The progress of space exploration led to some fatal incidents in past decades. The progress of communications led to Internet crimes. The list goes on.

At a university, students usually are reluctant to change as well. You don’t usually take a different route to class each time, change your seat in a classroom often or change your place of residence on a monthly basis.

Although the above situations don’t necessarily lead to bad change, progress toward the positive can be made in small steps each day.

Never mind trying to overwhelm yourself or others about how much you need to get done as long as you make progress on your plans.

Reading one of four chapters is making progress. Writing five pages of a 20-page paper is making progress. Knowing where you’re going to be this summer is making progress.

It’s always a good idea to have goals. But making progress on those goals is just as important. Progress can lead to success. But it also can lead to taking other goals less eriously. Once you’ve succeeded in accomplishing something big, none of your other goals seems to overwhelm you or matter as much as it once did.

In the context of job searches, if you’ve already been offered a well-paying job with a reputable company after graduation, passing all your classes wouldn’t seem as overwhelming a challenge as long as you graduate.

That doesn’t mean you should slack off, but classes at this point would seem like nothing more than somewhere you go to fill up your days by taking notes.

You have a job after graduation. You’ve made progress in life and that’s all that matters.

There’s no need to stress yourself out about meeting all your goals for the day as long as you’ve made progress. So if your professors do give too much homework, don’t ask yourself, “Did I get everything done?” but, “Did I make progress today?”

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Shuva Rahim is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.