Ah, spring time. The birds are chirping, the geese are eventually coming back, the flowers are beginning to bud, allergies are flaring up, and finals week is looming ahead.
Tis the season for late nights and hastily written papers, typed under the influence of allergy medication and sleep deprivation. Soon, you start drinking coffee (black) for the taste, as its effects long stopped working for you.
I mean, at least that’s how it went for me. I may not have the best time management skills, but at least I don’t have the worst. That has to count for something, right? After all, I’ve made it this far.
I believe in learning from mistakes, from mine and everybody elses. And I make a lot of mistakes, so logic follows there should be a lot I can learn from.
Freshman year brought a lot of firsts, and generally the first time doing anything you’re prone to make the simplest of mistakes. For me, that came in the form of taking finals. Looking back, here are just some of the rookie mistakes I’ve made before I even walked into the testing room.
Rookie mistake number one: forgetting a number two pencil.
Yeah, I know. The only thing I’m doing for the next hour is taking a test that I’ve spent countless hours studying for, and literally the only thing I need to see all that hard work come to fruition is a pencil. That I forgot. At home. On my desk.
Although I’ve heard that scantrons can be taken with a pen, I wasn’t too keen to test that theory out. Luckily, I was able to procure a pencil from a kind Sister after I stumbled into the chapel, hoping that someone I knew was working that day. Long story short, always bring a pencil, or two if you can help it. And if your exam is online, bringing a charger doesn’t hurt either. After all, not everyone will have a Sister to have their back all the time.
Rookie mistake number two: poor time management.
This one is fairly obvious, but one that’s been said so many times that the warning lost its effect until you experience the effects of poor time management. But, it’s not necessarily the end of the world if you’ve spent your Saturday (and Sunday, and Monday through Friday) evenings playing Fortnight, or taking that extra shift on the weekends.
Different majors have different requirements and rigor depending on how far you are on track. Depending on your major and its requirements, you either need to do some serious reevaluating to determine if this major is right for you, or figure out ways to get your life together within a weeks time. There’s probably a slim chance that you can turn your average “C” into an “A,” or even a low “C” into a low “B” if you haven’t hit the books since midterms. At this point, it’s about setting realistic goals, and creating a hierarchy of importance in what needs to get done.
Rookie mistake number three: letting an exam define you, and not taking ownership of your mistakes.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be bummed after getting a lower grade than you expected on an exam, after all, disappointment is a normal human emotion. But I’m talking about that all encompassing feeling of despair that causes you to freak out, with thoughts of, “Should change my major?” or “Am I going to get into that really selective program?” flood your head late at night.
Grades are important, I’m not saying they’re not, but placing their importance so much so that it begins to impact your health, both mental and physical, does more detriment to you and your ability to succeed than it gives benefits. The ability to focus for prolonged periods of time is an admirable trait, but sometimes it’s okay and beneficial to take a break from hyperfocusing, and take care of yourself. But, it’s ultimately up to you to make sure that “break” doesn’t become an excuse to not do work.
This ties into ownership of mistakes. It’s really easy for me to blame external factors on why I didn’t study as much, or why I got a disappointing grade. The ability to take ownership of my education is one lesson that I’m still learning. I wouldn’t want a C- average student to be my nurse or teach my hypothetical children, so why would I think it to be okay if I performed that way?
With two finals down, and (hopefully) six more to go, I would be able to expand on these mistakes and learn from myself and others around me. Good luck on finals all!
James Cantu
Opinions Editor