No matter where you go to college -- be it an upper-crust Ivy or a fun-loving state school -- there are some universal facts of life. One: You will have to do your laundry eventually. Two: Servery food does not have a shelf life. And three: Midterms will always find you (usually just after you've discovered a new show on Netflix).
As another midterm season rolls around, I've called upon the emotions of Disney Pixar's "Inside Out" to illustrate the emotional roller coaster every college student bravely faces.
As a new level of tension descends on campus, you realize the inescapable truth: Midterms have arrived.
As sleep dwindles and your calendar explodes with due date notifications, you begin to wonder why these are the best four years of your life.
And this cycle, your professors have kindly squeezed all five of your exams into the same week.
This has to be a conspiracy.
No need to panic, you have a plan.
"Breathe in ... breathe out ..."
You'll hit the books.
And prepare to dredge everything you have ever learned out of long-term storage.
You'll attend all of your review sessions.
Even when the TAs' blasé attitude is one more "simply" away from inciting a riot.
And you'll study until the universe unravels.
You have now read literally everything that has even been written about valence electrons.
You get to your first test.
So far, so good.
And recognize all of the topics from your notes.
You are a genius. Suck it, midterms!
You're feeling amazing ... until it's time for the Big One.
Organic chemistry, dynamics, economics — you name it, we've all suffered from it.
Halfway through, you realize the professor included material never covered in class.
Seven chapters wasn't enough? You had to skip to chapter 12, too?!
And while you'd rather just:
You find your happy place, and keep on going.
You've got this: In a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Student always crushes Test.
Because pretty soon, you'll find a section you recognize.
And before you know it, you're through!
And even though the whole week felt like this:
And you're secretly worried it will turn out like this:
Right now, you just feel like this:
Time to celebrate all your hard work! Bring on the Netflix, jump under the covers, and reward yourself with some well-earned nap time.
