We made it through! Midterms are finally over and it is time to rejoice.
I’m sure at this point you’re probably trying to wind down from the overly-stressful and obnoxiously busy past two weeks. With papers to write and exams to cram for, there is no doubt that midterms are a difficult stretch.
But, finally, you’re able to take a deep breath. Classes will slow down in pace just a bit, Thanksgiving Break is now on the horizon and the semester is honestly coming pretty close to its grand finale. But don’t worry about finals season just yet; we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
My midterm season can be summed up in two words: a grind. I had lots of nights where I stayed up until 2 or 3 a.m. just working on an essay. I barely had in-person exams this year for whatever reason, with most of my time spent creating organizers for papers I had to write in different classes.
I actually prefer the classic in-person exam over the essay. This may come across as a hot take, but generally, I enjoy studying because it helps the information stick with me so I can actually learn and reinforce it as opposed to just regurgitating it back. Papers are great but can be such a bore when you’re writing about something that doesn’t fit your interests.
At the end of the day, though, if I could choose, I would of course jump on the opportunity to create some type of creative project. In the middle point of each semester I’ve had here so far, I have found myself working on PowerPoints and video projects that I have really enjoyed.
Classes like Calculus or Statistics in your first year can be really difficult when it comes to midterms week. In my first year, I remember cramming like crazy for those exams, because the midterm exam was something that built off of all the topics we had learned in the class up to that point. Other classes may be a little more forgiving, by making the midterm exam’s content course material that is a little fresher in your head.
In my Molecules of Life course I took last year in the spring semester, my professor had a great approach to midterms. He actually allowed us to complete a take-home exam on paper, so it was assigned in one class meeting and was simply due at the beginning of the next meeting. It made it so that I could take my time, check over my answers, but also be able to write out my answers on paper and draw out diagrams, which I prefer.
Although we didn’t have a concrete midterm exam for this class, my Business Ethics professor allows full collaboration on quizzes. For quizzes in class, it is very helpful to be able to talk out my answers with my classmates and work together to come to a common answer. Collaboration in this sense is very beneficial, and I think that it is something more professors should employ.
All of that aside, midterms are now over and done with, so we are all able to take a big sigh of relief and allow ourselves to take a break before finals season rolls around in the middle of December. Don’t worry though, you have time until then, so enjoy it!
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