As a first semester freshman in college, I can finally say “I made it”! Finals are FINALly over (see what I did there?!) and now that I reflect back on the last stress filled, coffee stained, most tired I’ve ever been week of the semester I can safely say that it was the WORST. I spent hours in the library trying to teach myself all of the material that I somehow didn’t retain throughout the last four months and anytime I actually found myself outside the third floor of Hayden, I was on the phone crying to my mom about dumb I really am, and trying to compensate with the fact that I’m “street smart”. “I’ll go further in life with that, Mom!” I found myself saying more than usual.
When it finally came time to sit down and take the final, whether it was online or in person there was endless amount of thoughts going through my mind, and just about none of them was “whether or not the statement was a valid counterfactual” or not…
1. “I got this, I studied so hard!”
You did! You were up literally all night staring at your notes… you knew it then, why wouldn’t you now?!
2. “How much time did they say I have or this again…?”
You’re about five questions in and you already are questioning the time? Yep, procrastinating once again. Typical.
3. “If I lose Wifi during this…”
I don’t know about you… but ASU wifi is about as reliable as that boy at the frat party who said he would be back in one second with a drink for you but you know as well as he does that they have been out for hours.
4. “Has that freckle always been there?”
Whether you’re on your laptop or filling in a scantron you got distracted by “that freckle”. You start doodling on your hand maybe, whatever the case is you’re no longer paying attention to the REAL matter at hand. By the way, yes, that freckle has always been there.
5. "We literally didn't even learn this??"
Okay maybe you did. Maybe you didn't. Maybe it was in one of those readings your teacher assigned that you never actually did. Chances are, the guy on either side of you knows it... You'll probably remember once you step foot out of the room (and open your notebook and see it written in blood letters with a star next to it that says "ON TEST")
6. “Why won’t this kid stop shaking his leg?! He’s distracting me from getting my A”
You can blame your C on whatever you want, but trust me, that kid shaking his leg non-stop was not the cause. He’s nervous too! Don’t be so harsh…
7. “Oooh, he/she’s cute, have they always been in this class?”
Yes, yes they have. You just never noticed because you usually aren’t.
8. “Alright I gotta just get this done.”
As you start to panic because you realize you’ve been wasting precious test taking time you start to rush. You probably are getting a lot more correct than you think actually. The problem was you just were doing everything BUT the test for the past 20 minutes.
9. “DONE”
You scan the room as you walk up to hand in your final and see that pretty much everyone is still there… you were one of the first people done?? “Wow, he/she really studied hard since they’re done so fast!” Yeah, maybe! Or maybe you just flew through it and got them all wrong just so you didn’t have to sit there slowly dying anymore. Regardless, you’re done and sprint back to your dorm as fast as you can to cry to your roommate/parent about how you “failed so bad”.
Ahhh, finals week one of college is done… feels good doesn’t it? Just wait, until the week when your final grades are posted! That will make you re-think skipping that “stupid math class” you have Thursday mornings at 9 am. Wine Wednesday can wait friends…
