Exam misery

I cannot begin to express how glad I am that I don’t have to take finals anymore. Many of my friends continued on to graduate school, law school, nursing school, medical school, etc., so they’re currently driving themselves insane with their first rounds of even more difficult finals.

Talking to them right now is a little like talking to a toddler, and I mean that in the most loving way possible. They’re jittery and unable to sit still because of the ridiculous amounts of caffeine they’re consuming on a daily basis, sensitive and on the verge of tears if the test doesn’t go their way and easily distracted. My best friend had her birthday yesterday. She took a study break to bake herself a cake and burned herself in the process. Her brain was already fried from marathon studying.

I was never good at taking tests. I would be overcome with anxiety because I would always miss single-answer questions. I could see a couple of answers working, but without being able to explain myself, I’d miss out on those points.

I was always the odd one out who liked blue book tests. They were great for me. I could use the entire time to think about what I wanted to say and plan for it. I would do exponentially better on blue book or essay tests than on multiple-choice exams.

I’m just very happy that it’s highly unlikely that I’ll ever have to endure the torture of finals again, especially if grad school finals really are as hard as my friends make them out to be. I saw someone stand up in the library when studying for undergrad finals, throw papers on the ground, yell an obscenity and walk out. I commended him for what he did. We were all thinking the same thing. So I can only imagine the scenes in grad school libraries this week.

I try to offer up comforting words to my friends enduring this week. But I think I just make them angry, because I typically end up saying something like, “I’m sorry you’re having such a tough week, but man, I’m glad I don’t have to take finals anymore.”

Maybe I should work on being more sympathetic … I can’t wait until the week is over so my friends can stop stressing themselves out.

If you’re currently in the middle of finals week, I feel for you. I hope it’s going well so far and wish you good luck with your remaining exams!