Midterms, Facepaint, and Fires
Let me tell you about my week.
My French homework is usually due on Saturdays, and this week was no exception. But then my French instructor decided to add more exercises on Tuesday night--due on Thursday. Normally I would not complain, but 2 days is not enough notice and this week is an especially busy week for me, being midterm week and all. So I email her asking her for an extension. I explain that I have two midterms on Wednesday, four 8-page papers due on Thursday, which I am no where near having finished, and two exams on Thursday, one of which is for French. I know I won't be able to complete all of the exercises by Thursday unless I abstain from sleeping the next 72 hours. I understand that the exercises are for practice and for my own benefit, but they take me hours to complete -- hours which I believe can be better spent studying by other means. I will certainly complete the exercises, but ask that given the time constraints I face this week and the short notice of the addition exercises, to please be given an extension.
She doesn't respond.
The following day (Wednesday) I speak to her after class. She tells me she has reservations about giving me an extension because it doesn't make much sense to complete the exercises AFTER the exam since they are FOR the exam. I'm taking 6 courses; the average undergraduate student takes 4. I repeat to her how many assignments I have to complete for Thursday in particular, and I know I won't have time to complete the exercises.
Having been a student herself, I'm sure she can empathize with the chaos that is midterm week. While I understand her reasoning, if she wanted to assign the exercises, she should have done so sooner, not two days before an exam and certainly not at the last minute during midterm week. I don't think my request was unreasonable. She said she'd "think about it."
Wednesday night I didn't even attempt to sleep because I had not studied for the two exams, and I still had two 8-page papers to write. Not only did I endure Thursday's French exam with a pounding headache from lack of sleep, my mind was overwhelmed by pending tasks and I was careless with present tasks. Retracing my steps to fix a paper mix-up used valuable time and exacerbated the stress.
See, my Narrative, Health, and Social Justice professor emailed me informing me that I submitted an essay covering the theme of puppetry and its satirical stab at vanity in regard to social realism, which is not at all what her paper was suppose to be about. After my panic and confusion dissipated, I came to the realization that I must have switched the papers of two of my classes because I have both lectures on the same day. Though this is my first time making an error of this magnitude, given the plethora of small, clumsy mistakes I have been making outside of my classes this entire midterm week, I know the overload of exams and papers have pushed me past the threshold of even productively dividing a simple task like which printed assignment goes in which course folder. I apologized, genuinely, but also understood these feelings didn't solve the dilemma at hand. I submitted to one professor what another should have received, and vice versa. I skipped lunch to track down both professors and submit the correct assignments.
Thursday night, knowing I had no exams or papers due Friday, I slept. When my alarm rang eight hours later, I felt like I hadn't slept at all. But I couldn't continue - I had an appointment out of state that I absolutely could not reschedule.
Friday night, I go online to complete the online exercises for French. Surprise, surprise, she didn't grant me the extension. I still completed the assignments but the online tool sent me a message that read, "Late night results may not be included in your cumulative score." Am I unjustified for being a little sour about this situation? I get no homework credit for something I tried to prevent. I swallowed the bitter taste with some frozen yogurt, which is definitely not a healthy way to handle the situation, but the creamy goodness definitely ameliorated my mood.
Mom says I should speak to my academic adviser, something about how his job is to vouch for students. I have some doubts given his streak of dismissive words over concrete action. I think I just needed this time to vent. Perhaps write a letter and throw it out afterwards.
Saturday was Homecoming, which I didn't go to because I opted to spend the afternoon studying. But I did manage to spend some time on myself by spending it with my sister getting our facepainted to represent Columbia spirit (the Lions still lost the Homecoming game, though).
I went to bed around midnight only to be awoken by a fire alarm an hour and a half later. I evacuate my dorm to freeze my behind during the hour it takes the fire trucks to come and inspect the building. On the bright side, I got to read some Google+ posts on my phone, which is something I've been putting off. 2:30am I am snuggling in my bed, my eyes heavy with anticipation. The shrill sound of yet another fire alarm startles me. More prepared this time, I pull jeans over my pajama shorts and grab my scarf and sweater. Did I say prepared? The temperature must've dropped because I was shivering despite the layers I now donned.
It's been rough. It's not my first time experiencing the cramming and tense times of midterm week and it won't be my last. But maybe if my French instructor would have been more understanding, I would have endured the stress more gracefully because I wouldn't have felt cornered. Sometimes all you want to know is that when you walk the tightrope, aside from will and skill, there's a safety plan in place.
Well, time to get back to the 5-page paper due tomorrow. Maybe tonight I'll get a solid 3-4 hours of sleep. That's an accomplishment to look forward to.
My French homework is usually due on Saturdays, and this week was no exception. But then my French instructor decided to add more exercises on Tuesday night--due on Thursday. Normally I would not complain, but 2 days is not enough notice and this week is an especially busy week for me, being midterm week and all. So I email her asking her for an extension. I explain that I have two midterms on Wednesday, four 8-page papers due on Thursday, which I am no where near having finished, and two exams on Thursday, one of which is for French. I know I won't be able to complete all of the exercises by Thursday unless I abstain from sleeping the next 72 hours. I understand that the exercises are for practice and for my own benefit, but they take me hours to complete -- hours which I believe can be better spent studying by other means. I will certainly complete the exercises, but ask that given the time constraints I face this week and the short notice of the addition exercises, to please be given an extension.
She doesn't respond.
The following day (Wednesday) I speak to her after class. She tells me she has reservations about giving me an extension because it doesn't make much sense to complete the exercises AFTER the exam since they are FOR the exam. I'm taking 6 courses; the average undergraduate student takes 4. I repeat to her how many assignments I have to complete for Thursday in particular, and I know I won't have time to complete the exercises.
Having been a student herself, I'm sure she can empathize with the chaos that is midterm week. While I understand her reasoning, if she wanted to assign the exercises, she should have done so sooner, not two days before an exam and certainly not at the last minute during midterm week. I don't think my request was unreasonable. She said she'd "think about it."
Wednesday night I didn't even attempt to sleep because I had not studied for the two exams, and I still had two 8-page papers to write. Not only did I endure Thursday's French exam with a pounding headache from lack of sleep, my mind was overwhelmed by pending tasks and I was careless with present tasks. Retracing my steps to fix a paper mix-up used valuable time and exacerbated the stress.
See, my Narrative, Health, and Social Justice professor emailed me informing me that I submitted an essay covering the theme of puppetry and its satirical stab at vanity in regard to social realism, which is not at all what her paper was suppose to be about. After my panic and confusion dissipated, I came to the realization that I must have switched the papers of two of my classes because I have both lectures on the same day. Though this is my first time making an error of this magnitude, given the plethora of small, clumsy mistakes I have been making outside of my classes this entire midterm week, I know the overload of exams and papers have pushed me past the threshold of even productively dividing a simple task like which printed assignment goes in which course folder. I apologized, genuinely, but also understood these feelings didn't solve the dilemma at hand. I submitted to one professor what another should have received, and vice versa. I skipped lunch to track down both professors and submit the correct assignments.
Thursday night, knowing I had no exams or papers due Friday, I slept. When my alarm rang eight hours later, I felt like I hadn't slept at all. But I couldn't continue - I had an appointment out of state that I absolutely could not reschedule.
Friday night, I go online to complete the online exercises for French. Surprise, surprise, she didn't grant me the extension. I still completed the assignments but the online tool sent me a message that read, "Late night results may not be included in your cumulative score." Am I unjustified for being a little sour about this situation? I get no homework credit for something I tried to prevent. I swallowed the bitter taste with some frozen yogurt, which is definitely not a healthy way to handle the situation, but the creamy goodness definitely ameliorated my mood.
Mom says I should speak to my academic adviser, something about how his job is to vouch for students. I have some doubts given his streak of dismissive words over concrete action. I think I just needed this time to vent. Perhaps write a letter and throw it out afterwards.
Saturday was Homecoming, which I didn't go to because I opted to spend the afternoon studying. But I did manage to spend some time on myself by spending it with my sister getting our facepainted to represent Columbia spirit (the Lions still lost the Homecoming game, though).
I went to bed around midnight only to be awoken by a fire alarm an hour and a half later. I evacuate my dorm to freeze my behind during the hour it takes the fire trucks to come and inspect the building. On the bright side, I got to read some Google+ posts on my phone, which is something I've been putting off. 2:30am I am snuggling in my bed, my eyes heavy with anticipation. The shrill sound of yet another fire alarm startles me. More prepared this time, I pull jeans over my pajama shorts and grab my scarf and sweater. Did I say prepared? The temperature must've dropped because I was shivering despite the layers I now donned.
It's been rough. It's not my first time experiencing the cramming and tense times of midterm week and it won't be my last. But maybe if my French instructor would have been more understanding, I would have endured the stress more gracefully because I wouldn't have felt cornered. Sometimes all you want to know is that when you walk the tightrope, aside from will and skill, there's a safety plan in place.
Well, time to get back to the 5-page paper due tomorrow. Maybe tonight I'll get a solid 3-4 hours of sleep. That's an accomplishment to look forward to.
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