Midterm exams are a stressful time for everyone involved: the students taking them, the professors that have to grade them and even the parents that have to worry whether their college students are passing their classes and simultaneously getting enough to sleep to keep them going. However, any college student would tell you that sleep is a rare commodity when it comes time to midterms. On the mobile app Yik Yak, the word “nap” was probably the most used term on the anonymous text feed. Students all across campus could be found sleeping on tables and public couches, using textbooks as pillows. In truth, you learn to accept the sleep you get, when and where you can get it.
There’s no doubt about it; midterms are a tough and trying time, both mentally and physically. It’s the point in the semester where students realize that they haven’t studied the way they should have, or that maybe they should have started their 12-page research paper prior to the day it’s due. It sounds crazy, but as a chronic procrastinator, I can’t tell you I haven’t tried it. One of the more liberating things about college is “the freedom and ability to mess up your own life,” as sophomore Kevin Ferguson said. Sometimes it feels that accountability for our own actions is the most important lesson that college can teach. During midterms, many students get to see the rewards — or consequences — of their actions come to fruition.
However, even if midterms don’t go as well as we hoped, there are always ways of unwinding after they’re all over. We all have little things that keep us going throughout the semester.
As a music major, senior Jason Sandonato said that his “midterms” last the entire semester. With his own recitals and performances weighing down on him, he says that the ability to attend the many concerts on campus keeps him from getting too stressed out by the work he does to stay afloat. Another music major, sophomore Sarah McCollum, uses a different type of motivation. “Seeing my fellow majors and non-majors struggling with the same type of stress reminds me that I’m not the only one feeling anxious about my assignments. Also, the knowledge that each week will have its ups and downs but won’t significantly influence my future in the long run reassures me that I can make it through the next week.”
Now, where do we go from here? We’ve crammed for tests, dealt with consistent hand cramps for about a week straight and gone far too many sleepless nights. But this is all temporary.
After midterms, the semester goes on. Once you’ve finished your last exam, you’re halfway done. For me, this is the greatest source of motivation. We’ve all had our highs and lows so far this semester, and yet we’re still standing. There are plenty of events that the Office of Student Activities hosts to keep us calm, happy, and entertained when we aren’t studying, and there’s a lot to be said for unwinding while watching a movie or drinking smoothies with friends. The most important thing is to not let studies and unfinished work build up and become overwhelming. “I just take it one day at a time,” sophomore Colleen Wells said. “I have to keep my head on straight at all times.”
There will always be more work to be done, and finding a good pace, as well as making time for relaxation and socialization, is the best way to get through it. While it’s easy to forget this while buried to our chins in homework, stressed out and utterly exhausted, college is one of the best experiences of our lives. Whether it’s a midterm, final exam or otherwise stressful assignment, it’s important to remember that if worst comes to worst, there is always a Saturday after every stressful school week.
