There are a couple of things you can count on to take place at some point during a semester: exams and papers. Sometimes, professors even assign papers to replace students taking an exam. Some students prefer slaving over a computer keyboard, whereas others would much rather sit down with a No. 2 pencil and Scantron.
Any way you look at it, your knowledge will be tested and there will be tears involved. More than once in a semester. These lovely moments are affectionately referred to as midterms week and finals week.
The week of midterms consists of students scrambling around, studying for exams and writing papers. Why is this, you may ask? Because college academics can be boring, and students will try to put off completing these mind-numbing tasks for as long as possible without failing a course. This is typical college behavior, but during midterms, it intensifies.
Midterm means the exam will have more material on it than what would be on a run-of-the-mill exam, which means more pressure to know everything your professor ever said up to that point.
All the pressure to receive passing marks on midterms compels students all the more to delay studying. Instead, time is spent envisioning yourself on vacation somewhere, which is where you plan to be for the entire week ensuing midterms.
If you thought midterms week was a horrendous undertaking, just wait for finals week. It’s a whole different ballgame with finals. If you’re lucky, your professor won’t make the final cumulative and you only have to know the material covered in the second half of the semester.
Instead of studying, you’re too busy looking forward to the three months you’ll have off instead of that measly week off for spring break. Some may look at this as an incentive to focus on academics. Others (majority of students) just want to get all those exams out of the way, but struggle with actually prepping for finals because their minds are “forcing” them to procrastinate with summer break thoughts.
Midterms and finals are no walk in the park, but this doesn’t stop us college students from imagining we’re strolling through Central Park instead of confined in a cubicle on the third floor of the library.
Anyway, I think it’s about time to actually start studying for that final in t-minus two hours. Back to the daily grind of finals week.
