4 Developing a Back-up Plan

Learning Outcomes

  • Identify factors that could interfere with attendance and assignment completion.
  • Develop a back-up plan to address those factors.

Unexpected Situations and Events

  • If you car will not start the morning of class, what will you do?
  • If your six-year-old has a day off from school but you have to be in class, how will you ensure you make it to class?
  • If you are suddenly feeling anxious and overwhelmed by your workload and other commitments, how can you stay on track?
Woman grabbing her head in panic or stress
Photo by Simran Sood on Unsplash

Too often, students panic and give up when faced with an unexpected life situation, but there are ways to cope and prepare. It always helps to have a contingency — a back-up plan for when situations do not go as expected. This is beneficial not only in college but in your career and personal life.

Developing a Back-up Plan

Developing a contingency requires assessing your situation to determine the factors that could interfere with your ability to attend your classes or to complete your assignments on time. Every student has different factors that could interfere at some point, and that will always be the case in college and in life. You can’t erase those factors, and you cannot generally anticipate major crises; but you can have some basic plans in place in order to minimize disruptions to attendance and academic work.

Complete the exercise below to help you identify areas where you may need back-up plans to help you prepare for the unexpected.

Activity: Develop a Back-up Plan

How likely is it that each of the following could lead to prompts with completing work on time or attending class meetings this semester?

Financial challenges Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Job responsibilities and commitments Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Family responsibilities and commitments Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Difficulty managing my time Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Difficulty with organization Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Unreliable internet access Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Minimal experience with the technology used in this course Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Low motivation Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Anxiety about reading, writing, learning, or school Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely
Other factors? Unlikely Somewhat likely Very likely

Now, review your responses.

For items that you marked “Very likely,” brainstorm ideas for how you will prevent or handle those “Very likely” situations. Be specific. If you did not make any with “Very likely,” do the same for the “Somewhat likely” items.

If you are struggling to come up with ideas, talk with your peers, your professor, or someone else whom you think could provide advice.

 

License

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Becoming a Confident Reader Copyright © 2022 by Dr. Susannah M. Givens is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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