For three weeks, I knew that on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 9:45am, I had to do my IB oral presentation.

I set an alarm for two weeks before, one week before, a day before and an hour before, just so that I would remember to study. But what did I do every time I saw the reminder pop up? Yep, that’s right, I cleared my notifications. Ignored!

Monday before the oral, I decided I should start studying. So I looked in my binder for the three packets of excerpts. I found King Lear, but no Sylvia Plath or Their Eyes Were Watching God. This is where younger, motivated Josie would have freaked out.

But not me! I just hoped that I gave my friend the packets and asked him to look for them that night. It was fine, one less day I had to study, right?

As I sat there in my bed, happy I didn’t have to study, I slowly started to realize that I didn’t really care if I studied for the oral or not. I knew it was important, and I knew I should study, I just wasn’t motivated to study. The worst part was I knew that studying would be easy once I started, but I didn’t want to start.

The next day, my friend gave me one of my packets, but we couldn’t find the third one. Lear, check. Plath, check. Eyes, no check. So I took my other friend’s Eyes packet and decided I would study that night.

Eight o’clock rolls around and I still hadn’t opened my binder. Eventually, I gave in. I started with Eyes because I hadn’t read that book, so I thought I should at least look at those passages. I spent the night re-annotating that packet.

When the morning came I felt prepared. I could have talked about any of the passages in any of the packets. Well, all but the last from Eyes.

The time comes and I go into the back office of the library, praying that I don’t pick that one passage I didn’t study. I pick an excerpt, PRAYING that the fates don’t give me that one passage. I mean why would they? I was good! I was ready for any of the others. So I opened my envelope and wouldn’t you know, I got the ONE passage I didn’t even look at!

So, moral of the story: don’t trust the fates. They hate you. Study everything.