ACHS Students Share Their Most Creative Homework Excuses

By Emma Jordan and Chloe Moore

To uncover the most imaginative reasons for incomplete assignments, we sent out a survey asking students to share their best excuses. The responses ranged from life-changing circumstances to technical mishaps.

One student claimed that a major life event made homework irrelevant: “My mom is pregnant and we’re moving to New York so there’s no reason to do this homework since I won’t be here soon.”

Another student blamed geography for their missing work, stating, “I left it in a hotel in Chicago, so I’m not getting it back.”

A third student provided an entire list of technical troubles: “Crumbs in my keyboard wouldn’t let me type, my laptop was stuck in tablet mode, and I couldn’t use my keyboard, and my mousepad wouldn’t work.”

Perhaps the most elaborate excuse came from a student who mixed up backpacks with their brother: “One time after my brother had graduated, he set his backpack where I normally set mine. At the time, we had the same backpack, so one day I was in a rush to get to school and I grabbed his backpack instead of mine, leaving mine at home.”

However, not all ACHS students rely on excuses. One student shared a different perspective on homework management: “I do not make any excuses. Education is very important to me. When a teacher gives me an assignment and gives me a few days to do it, I go home the day I get it and finish it so I can have kind of an open week. I really like my strategy, so I’m not worrying about doing it later when I can do other things. If something ended up missing, I would hurry up and email or talk to the teacher because I always do my work on time; they always end up finding it somewhere.”

While life circumstances do happen, the most effective strategies for avoiding missing homework is prioritization, accountability, and organization. ACHS students may have some creative excuses, but staying on top of assignments from the start proves to be the best approach.