It’s the last week before spring break. You can almost taste the freedom that comes with no classes and the option to sleep well into the afternoon. The only thing between you and spending some quality time with your bed are just a few tests. In every. Single. Class. Which you may or may not be prepared for (in my case it’s a definite not). Much like the five stages of grief, there are several emotional stages that everyone at SJU who runs the gauntlet of midterms week goes through.
Monday:
After a moderately productive weekend, you’re feeling cautiously optimistic about the week. These exams are going to be a piece of cake.
Tuesday:
Monday’s tests went ok, but now you’re starting to question if you actually did study enough. Nothing a late night study sesh at the library can’t fix, right?
Wednesday:
Wrong. These exams are not, in fact, going to be a piece of cake. At this point you may or may not be considering dropping out of school and investing your valuable time into a more constructive outlet, like maybe Netflix.
Thursday:
By now, both your mental and physical well-being has rapidly deteriorated. Your studying for the last couple of exams is being fueled entirely by greasy food and enough energy drinks to give yourself heart palpitations. You can almost make out a light at the end of the tunnel.
Friday:
The feeling of pure euphoria you experience as you hand in that last exam almost makes the past week of cruel and unusual (and self-inflicted) punishment worth it. Next time, you promise yourself that you’ll better prepare for your tests, and leave the last minute cramming and stress in the past.
-Keith Banquer
