The Four Stages Of Studying For a Calculus Exam | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

The Four Stages Of Studying For a Calculus Exam

There are highs and lows, but mainly lows.

Jessica Hornyak
Mar 07, 2017
University of Florida
29
The Four Stages Of Studying For a Calculus Exam
Salon

Calculus exams are always a thing of magic - but not like the Disney-Princess kind of magic, it's more like black magic. Equations, series, and integrals appear that you swear can't even exist. Studying for a Calculus Exam has highs and lows, mainly lows... okay, only lows.

1. Believing you have a chance

Recommended for you

Parks and Recreation

10 Things About Finals Week

April Ludgate

13 Times April Ludgate Perfectly Explained College

You plan out your study schedule and feel super confident about your abilities. It's just a math exam right? You should be fine, you got an A in pre-Algebra, you're a math wizard.

2. Memorizing formulas, rules, and identities

This is what you think the simple part of studying will be. However, you then realize you need to know 26 different equations for each question, oh wait make that 27. Unfortunately, the Pythagorean Theorem isn't applicable to a diverging series.

3. Realizing you know nothing

This is the moment where you flip through your notes and realize that you might as well be learning how to fly. So unless you're Peter Pan, you're out of luck here.

4. Panic

This is the moment when you convince yourself you'd do society a favor by dropping Calculus. The numbers are behaving like variables and the variables are behaving like numbers and the world is in chaos. Everything you thought you knew at this point has been continuously disproved and now you wonder if 2+2 even really exists.

Sometimes Calculus clicks, but mostly it doesn't. Calculus exams can be daunting and even life changing. However, I promise you don't need to know how to find an interval of convergence in order to pay your bills. It's just a nice party trick. Keep watching YouTube videos on Calculus concepts the day of the exam, I promise it might help you get at least 3 right.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Entertainment

Every Girl Needs To Listen To 'She Used To Be Mine' By Sara Bareilles

These powerful lyrics remind us how much good is inside each of us and that sometimes we are too blinded by our imperfections to see the other side of the coin, to see all of that good.

Miami University
70383
Every Girl Needs To Listen To 'She Used To Be Mine' By Sara Bareilles

The song was sent to me late in the middle of the night. I was still awake enough to plug in my headphones and listen to it immediately. I always did this when my best friend sent me songs, never wasting a moment. She had sent a message with this one too, telling me it reminded her so much of both of us and what we have each been through in the past couple of months.

Keep Reading...Show less
music
Entertainment

Why Your Astrological Sign May Not Match Your Personality

We are all more than just one sign.

SUNY Plattsburgh
15743
Zodiac wheel with signs and symbols surrounding a central sun against a starry sky.

What's your sign? It's one of the first questions some of us are asked when approached by someone in a bar, at a party or even when having lunch with some of our friends. Astrology, for centuries, has been one of the largest phenomenons out there. There's a reason why many magazines and newspapers have a horoscope page, and there's also a reason why almost every bookstore or library has a section dedicated completely to astrology. Many of us could just be curious about why some of us act differently than others and whom we will get along with best, and others may just want to see if their sign does, in fact, match their personality.

Keep Reading...Show less
astrology
Entertainment

20 Song Lyrics To Put A Spring Into Your Instagram Captions

"On an island in the sun, We'll be playing and having fun"

UNC Greensboro
3950
Person in front of neon musical instruments; glowing red and white lights.
Photo by Spencer Imbrock on Unsplash

Whenever I post a picture to Instagram, it takes me so long to come up with a caption. I want to be funny, clever, cute and direct all at the same time. It can be frustrating! So I just look for some online. I really like to find a song lyric that goes with my picture, I just feel like it gives the picture a certain vibe.

Here's a list of song lyrics that can go with any picture you want to post!

Keep Reading...Show less
spring
Relationships

The Importance Of Being A Good Person

An open letter to the good-hearted people.

Sacred Heart University
69698
Chalk drawing of scales weighing "good" and "bad" on a blackboard.
WP content

Being a good person does not depend on your religion or status in life, your race or skin color, political views or culture. It depends on how good you treat others.

We are all born to do something great. Whether that be to grow up and become a doctor and save the lives of thousands of people, run a marathon, win the Noble Peace Prize, or be the greatest mother or father for your own future children one day. Regardless, we are all born with a purpose. But in between birth and death lies a path that life paves for us; a path that we must fill with something that gives our lives meaning.

Keep Reading...Show less
good person
Health and Wellness

10 Hygiene Tips For All College Athletes

College athletes, it's time we talk about sports hygiene.

Eastern Michigan University
7977
Woman doing pull-ups on bars with sun shining behind her.
Unsplash

I got a request to talk about college athletes hygiene so here it is.

College athletes, I get it, you are busy! From class, to morning workouts, to study table, to practice, and more. But that does not excuse the fact that your hygiene comes first! Here are some tips when it comes to taking care of your self.

Keep Reading...Show less
hygiene tips

Trending Topics

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments