answer:I’ve definitely been where you are. There’s a pretty dreadful paper on Thomas Reid hiding in my file cabinet that somehow received a passing grade. I don’t even remind people I was in that class on the off chance someone will ask to read it. The worst part is, all I can remember is the second draft. I don’t even want to consider what the first draft must have looked like. There are a few minor assignments that I completely slacked off on as well (and I got called on it a couple of times). At this point, I’ve come to the conclusion that graduate work is fundamentally about balancing priorities. You will always have more work to do than can be done well, and part of the test is whether you neglect the stuff that can be neglected. I know it’s taboo to actually express this out loud (or in print, as the case may be). We’re all supposed to pretend we put 100% into everything. But that’s a complete lie. None of us can manage that, and the pretense is bad for our mental health.