The Gift of an Extended Deadline

Dr. Hart was my Political Communications professor in my final year - final semester, in fact - of college. I could go on and on about how great his course, curriculum, and teaching style were (especially because I loved the topics), but what stuck with me most was the environment he created and the relationships he formed with his students. Dr. Hart had been the dean of the Moody School of Communications and was a tenured professor, and it was clear he had developed a wonderful literacy for the unspoken language of the average college student - a language consisting of telltale signs of fatigue, possible mental health concerns, but more often than anything else, simple uncertainty and concern about what was coming next in the marathon of juggling tasks until walking the stage for graduation. This was certainly my case, as for the final half of my college career I was working two full-time jobs in the music industry and supplementing those with a serious of contract-based roles. I was enamored with everything I was exposed to in class, but was sometimes unable to tackle it with the depth I hoped for out of myself.
My second week of that semester, I was working to help my artist client deliver a full-length musical project to our record label - something I had never done before. I was drowning in work, and entirely overwhelmed by the beginning of the semester. We had a brief essay assignment due that second week, and by the time of deadline, I didn't feel confident I'd be able to deliver something up to par whatsoever. I emailed him to convey this, that I would be submitting something but it didn't reflect my best work (because I was overwhelmed & fumbling my responsibilities). He responded with a simple two lines, telling me to take an extra two days to submit it, then once I do, sit back & have a drink because college is hard. The relief that came over me after receiving that message set a precedent for achieving a sense of calm amidst the chaos for the rest of the semester, & I went on to truly enjoy & feel quite fulfilled by all my classes, especially Dr. Hart's, & my work.