Summer Homework Sadness

As August begins and school gets ever closer, I'm being forced to confront the grim reality that I have work to do.  AP homework, that is.  

Seven textbook chapters to outline, two charts to fill out, and a map to color in.

Though I've been chipping away at the workload all summer, I still haven't even managed to finish the second chapter. 

I'm starting to realize that these assignments are going to take a lot of time and effort, and that I should start seriously working on them now if I want to avoid an all-nighter before the first day of school.  

So yesterday, I grabbed my history book, got on my bike, and rode over to Peet's Coffee. I ordered a large black tea, settled down at a small table in the corner, and proceeded to slave away at Chapter Two: Ancient China.  

I read about the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, about the Huang He Valley, even about ancient rice cultivation techniques. For an hour I worked efficiently and diligently. When I reviewed my work, however, I was horrified to discover that I had only written one page of notes (front and back), and that I wasn't even halfway finished with the chapter.

At this point I should make it clear that I don't fault the history teachers for assigning the homework; I signed up for the class with the understanding that it is a rigorous, college-level course, and in a lot of ways, I'm excited about that. The textbook we're using may be the first history textbook I've ever read that isn't completely patronizing, and from what I hear, the teachers are also supposed to be very good. 

In the end, though, my excitement about the class doesn't change the fact that I have a lot of homework to do before school starts, and as I'm learning, homework over the summer is universally depressing