Its that time of the year again — Midterm Week — and we all dread its arrival. Although with each coming semester our classes change, our sentiments and bad behaviors toward midterm exams certainly do not. After much contemplation, and perhaps I should give some credit to my IB Psychology teacher, the Seven Stages of Grief comes to mind.
Lo and behold, I introduce to you, the Seven Stages of Midterm Week.
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1. Shock and Denial
This is the first part of this lengthy process. You’re at the sorority or fraternity house talking to your friends about your classes, when suddenly, some over achiever brings up midterm exams. You mentally block any other information following this dull and anxiety-ridden conversation, and reassure yourself that you shouldn’t even look at the dates. After all, my exams aren’t for a couple more weeks, right? And even if they are coming sooner than I would like them to, surely I don’t need to start worrying about them now. However, the seed is already planted and you’re probably continuing the rest of your day worrying about the impending doom of your procrastination. So you might as well check just to be sure right? That’s when it happens — you enter into catatonic shock — your first exam is next week.
2. Pain and Guilt
After a lengthy, and may I add, quite colorful conversation with yourself, you both mentally curse and thank that over-achiever at lunch who brought this devastating upheaval upon you. How could I have waited this long until I checked? No matter, I have seven days and surely that’s enough time to study right? With panic, you rush to Study Edge to pick up the study guides, practice exams and flash cards and figure that’s enough for today.
3. Anger and Bargaining
The next day, you decide it might be a good idea to crack open the Smokin'Notes. Life must be playing a sick joke on you kiddo because you got 200 pages to memorize in just six days. Not to mention the extensive practice exams that you must do. That’s when the anger boils in. How ridiculous is 200 pages? Is Intro to Marketing even that hard? You can’t even right now. But you must. So with an incensed disposition, that even the guy next to you can feel your fumes, you map out your study schedule for the week and start reading your Smokin'Notes.
4. Depression, Reflection and Loneliness
Self-deprecation always seems to be the "go to" at this stage. If only you watched all the lectures or started studying earlier. Really, what were you thinking? Its day three at the library and none of what you’re reading is making any sense. To make matters worse, none of your friends seem to need to study for their exams until the following week. This leaves you as the loner of the library, missing out on the social you were looking forward to going to, and just forget about Sunday Funday. Trudging on your own through the muck of whatever god-forsaken class you have to study for, dejection and ambivalence cloud over you. You reluctantly attempt to continue studying feeling just as alone, accompanied only by heavy sighs.
5. The Upward Turn
After pulling an all-nighter at club west the night before, it's Day five, and you’re finally starting to get the hang of it. With reassurance that you still have one more day to prepare before Dooms Day, you decide to give yourself a pat on the back for such dedication you’ve exhibited. Perhaps all these days of being the recluse at the library has paid off. All the vocabulary seems to be memorized and the material appears to be understood. Looks like its time for the practice exams.
6. Reconstruction and Working Through
Oh. My. God. How is this happening? After the first two practice exams, the best score you’ve gotten so far is a high C. Lets face it, you’re totally screwed. Any notions you’ve had of believing you would ace this exam has been flushed down the drain. This is the time where you pick which implosion you’re going to have next, an anxiety attack, a nervous breakdown, or better yet, both. Instead of proceeding into bouts of hysteria in the stairway, you decide to drown your sorrows at Chipotle across the street. What better food group to cry into than a burrito bowl? After your episode has ceased, you pull it together and trek through more practice exams and look over what you did wrong in hopes of a better future.
7. Acceptance and Hope
You’re finally free and your exam is over. Somehow you made it out alive, but let's be honest, you’re mentally and emotionally in pieces. No matter, a night at midtown will fix all that because you deserve it. The exam was difficult no doubt, but hopefully all that blood, sweat and tears paid off and you got that A. You are thrilled by the fact that tonight is all about having fun and relaxing. Little do you know, this whole process will be repeated tomorrow morning because undoubtedly you take more than once class per semester right?
