College is hard. In a midst of time when you are trying to figure who you are you are also expected to get good grades, be involved in dozens of organizations and activities to make yourself different, make networking connections, meet friends, most people have to work (or work two or three jobs), and then you also are expected to keep a healthy lifestyle. It’s all so unbelievably stressful.

You know what stress we don’t need in college - FINALS!

What purpose do they really serve anyway?

If I have worked my butt off to get an A in the class after several homework assignments, quizzes, tests, presentations, etc, then I shouldn’t have to take your final. I have already proven myself. I already worked my butt off to make sure I understand the material.

“Well it’s to make sure you took in all the information you learned,” - news flash, sometimes I don’t need the information I learned to help me in my career. As a wedding cinematographer, I really don’t need to know the specific steps to trade on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Could it possibly be helpful? Sure. Is there a chance that I will use it? Yea, but we are also in the age of technology. After finals, I am going to take all my notes and quizzes and throw them in the recycling bin. If I do choose to use those steps then I am going to have to look it up on Google to make sure I am doing it right anyway. College packs so much information into your head that the probability of you retaining all of that information is slim.

I also don’t believe it’s fair to squeeze it into one week. Some people take 21 credit hours, which is 7 classes! That means they are going to have to memorize information from four months of classes for seven different classes! That’s a ton of information. It took me more time to memorize and learn that information than it took me to memorize lines for a musical I starred in. It’s even more ridiculous if it’s a math-based test and you’re expected to memorize all the formulas.

Last semester I took a variety of classes, all of which were supposed to make me a well-rounded person. For finals week, I had to memorize the ways that certain factors will change the supply and demand of the market (Microeconomics), how the Odyssey connects to the story of the milkman and how we can use that as a lesson for our own life (World Literature), what made James Madison and influential person to our American history and what financial institutions have been instituted since our founding (US Government Politics and History), all employment human rights laws (Human Resource Management), and lastly, based on the type of demographic you’d like to grab and which marketing technique you’ll use (Principals of Marketing).

That’s just the overview, the main stuff. The other stuff that I was quizzed on had already left my brain. See how that works?

I can almost, ALMOST accept that we need to be able to juggle a lot in order to make us successful. It’s about time management and learning a variety of subjects. What I don’t understand is why it’s such a high percentage of your grade!? That’s just unfair… My understanding of a course shouldn’t be decided over one test.

Thankfully, I only have another year of this so-called “hell week” before I am freed from its fires. To all those still suffering, I wish you continuous ink in your highlighters. Stay strong. Stay determined.