How to Survive Midterms in 4 Painstaking Days
Elias Papakostas'15
So here we are, halfway done with our school year. To the freshman: You've made it this far, only 3 and a half more years to go.
For sophomores and juniors, don't worry about how hard you think your classes are: it only gets worse.
And for seniors, well, our days are numbered at BHS. But we have a favorite past time that every grade will soon share…
Midterms! As great as you thought the holidays were, the most wonderful time of the year has yet to arrive.
Now I'm not going to reinforce the cliche that everyone is freaking out about these four days of testing, since I've seen time and time again that this simply not true. Yes there are the people you will encounter that practically shake in anticipation of those hours they will be sitting in their chemistry class racking their brains for the proper chemical formula of sodium tetraborate decahydrate. But the reason you will remember this is because it is so striking, while the composed, relaxed majority will(hopefully) handle the stress a bit better.
But here's a small ray of sunshine: the testing will be broken up with a pleasant three day weekend because the testing was scheduled around Martin Luther King Jr day, without too much interruption(for once) from Mother Nature and her annual wave of snow days. Some people will complain that the scheduling just means that his or her long weekend will be ruined with the return to testing hanging over their head. I would probably have agreed with this perspective not too long ago, but then I considered a few of the more logical advantages to the 3 day break.
But rather than make you read through more of my nonsense I'll present my view on the matter in a simple table of advantages versus disadvantages:
For sophomores and juniors, don't worry about how hard you think your classes are: it only gets worse.
And for seniors, well, our days are numbered at BHS. But we have a favorite past time that every grade will soon share…
Midterms! As great as you thought the holidays were, the most wonderful time of the year has yet to arrive.
Now I'm not going to reinforce the cliche that everyone is freaking out about these four days of testing, since I've seen time and time again that this simply not true. Yes there are the people you will encounter that practically shake in anticipation of those hours they will be sitting in their chemistry class racking their brains for the proper chemical formula of sodium tetraborate decahydrate. But the reason you will remember this is because it is so striking, while the composed, relaxed majority will(hopefully) handle the stress a bit better.
But here's a small ray of sunshine: the testing will be broken up with a pleasant three day weekend because the testing was scheduled around Martin Luther King Jr day, without too much interruption(for once) from Mother Nature and her annual wave of snow days. Some people will complain that the scheduling just means that his or her long weekend will be ruined with the return to testing hanging over their head. I would probably have agreed with this perspective not too long ago, but then I considered a few of the more logical advantages to the 3 day break.
But rather than make you read through more of my nonsense I'll present my view on the matter in a simple table of advantages versus disadvantages:
Pros Cons
More time to study! More time to not study(Let's be real)
Some downtime after the stressful week Worrying about tests ruins the weekend
More time to study! More time to not study(Let's be real)
Some downtime after the stressful week Worrying about tests ruins the weekend
Will you use your time wisely?
OK So it seems that the whole pros vs cons idea is not as cut and dry as one would like, and its pretty short. What it basically comes down to is if you want to be a disagreeable pessimist then go ahead, I will not stop you. Feel free to not study/procrastinate or freak out. But I prefer to think of the break as a nice excuse to relax after two straight days of misery and a chance to prepare for the latter half.
Its only as bad as you make it, and the lengthy break is actually rather nice if you handle it well. That is not to say you should spend the entire weekend studying because let's be real: it doesn't do you any favors, it just sucks. I'll be the first to admit that I will probably not manage my time efficiently next weekend, but I know I have to study either way and may as well take advantage of the opportunity. Or fail. Probably gonna fail...
Its only as bad as you make it, and the lengthy break is actually rather nice if you handle it well. That is not to say you should spend the entire weekend studying because let's be real: it doesn't do you any favors, it just sucks. I'll be the first to admit that I will probably not manage my time efficiently next weekend, but I know I have to study either way and may as well take advantage of the opportunity. Or fail. Probably gonna fail...