Ah, the first week of exams. No more making excuses, you have to actually crack open that text book and figure out what it is that all of your teachers have been talking about for the past couple of weeks. Here are some things that I am pretty sure everyone has thought at least once during that first, torturous week.
1. First things first. Is there any way possible I can get out of taking this test? Am I feeling sick? Don’t I have a prior engagement during the exam time? If I ask a bunch of questions during class time can I stall long enough that the teacher will push the test back a day?
2. You have to figure what is even going to be on this test. You have now realized that you absolutely have to take this test. You will start to discover just how nice this professor actually is. They may appear so kind, but will they be asking you to define that fourteen-letter word that you’re pretty sure they made up and mentioned during lecture once on the first day?
3. All your professors decide to give exams at the same time. I am pretty sure they have university-wide meetings where they decide to give every student all the exams for their classes at once so they can really see just how much stress we can handle.
4. You actually start to feel confident in your understanding of the information. An epiphany happens. You have read the book and watched countless videos on the material, and all of a sudden you finally understand it. Something in your brain has clicked and you now really get how to do the practice problems.
5. You brag to your friends about how smart you are and then realize you actually know nothing. The true art of understanding material is to be able to explain it to someone else. In an attempt to do so, you realize how little you really do know and that you better get back to studying a.s.a.p.
6. You reach the “my brain cannot hold any more information” point. You have studied for what seems like a month, you pretty much know everything (or you just don’t care anymore), and you realize that you can no longer retain any more information. Your brain is full-- you're nearly blind from reading, and you haven’t slept in three days. It is now time to stop studying.
7. You take the test…You feel…okay. You are pretty sure that half of the information on the test was never taught. You look back through your notes to check the few answers that you weren’t sure about and you come up with some kind of estimated grade in your head.
8. You’re finally done! Just as you get ready to sprint out of that classroom and into the weekend, your professors will remind you of the upcoming essays and worksheets that are due, and let’s not forget, the next exam will be here in only two weeks. But for now, get out of there. Eat, sleep, give your brain some rest, hang out with some friends, and then get a head start on next week's material.
