2008 Woodie Awards
COLUMN: The joys and woes of midterms
Anna Huang
Issue date: 3/10/04 Section: Opinion
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(U-WIRE) PRINCETON, N.J. - Midterms have finally arrived. For so long they have been only a vague threat to be dealt with "tomorrow," but now they have taken on full form and strength. Unused computer clusters are now swarming with students not checking email but feverishly typing up essays.
Professors have finally awakened the sound in-class sleepers with brisk announcements of "Midterm in one week. Review session two days prior. Past midterms have been posted on Blackboard."
Facts and formulas from the very first lectures can no longer peacefully rot away in the back of students' mind, but must be shoved up front along with all other information stemming from subsequent lectures.
Lately, as I have spent every waking hour of my life as a pathetic recluse, huddled away in a tiny corner of some library basement, I have come to question the effectiveness and meaning of this lifestyle. I, along with the rest of the student body, am heavily sleep deprived with dark, pulsing bags underneath my bloodshot eyes to serve as evidence. I no longer dine with friends in the dining halls, but scarf down Frist salads and sandwiches by myself, using one hand to maneuver the food into my mouth and the other to continue copying down vocabulary words. One might ask why anyone would ever choose to live such a dismal existence.
The answer is simple: Desperate times call for desperate measures, and midterms demand drastic actions.
But why do we spend eight hours straight drilling vocabulary words, definitions, and various sentence structures into our heads when the information is very likely to dissipate into thin air within a week of the exam?
Do we study for the sake of true enlightenment and learning, or do we study for the sake of achieving some GPA and/or nicely cushioned future job?
Professors have finally awakened the sound in-class sleepers with brisk announcements of "Midterm in one week. Review session two days prior. Past midterms have been posted on Blackboard."
Facts and formulas from the very first lectures can no longer peacefully rot away in the back of students' mind, but must be shoved up front along with all other information stemming from subsequent lectures.
Lately, as I have spent every waking hour of my life as a pathetic recluse, huddled away in a tiny corner of some library basement, I have come to question the effectiveness and meaning of this lifestyle. I, along with the rest of the student body, am heavily sleep deprived with dark, pulsing bags underneath my bloodshot eyes to serve as evidence. I no longer dine with friends in the dining halls, but scarf down Frist salads and sandwiches by myself, using one hand to maneuver the food into my mouth and the other to continue copying down vocabulary words. One might ask why anyone would ever choose to live such a dismal existence.
The answer is simple: Desperate times call for desperate measures, and midterms demand drastic actions.
But why do we spend eight hours straight drilling vocabulary words, definitions, and various sentence structures into our heads when the information is very likely to dissipate into thin air within a week of the exam?
Do we study for the sake of true enlightenment and learning, or do we study for the sake of achieving some GPA and/or nicely cushioned future job?