Though the rain seems to have stopped and left nothing but sunny days, I'm still drowning in the floods.
No, I am not referring to the torrential downpours that leave red clay stuck to your shoes for a week. I am talking about the deluge of assignments and tests that professors seem intent on cramming down the pipe in these last few weeks.
We now have come to the point in the school year when we must make every effort to balance weekends of Foxfield races and beautiful weather with our academic responsibilities. With April drawing steadily to a close, you need not flip many pages of your planner to find the words "HISTORY FINAL, 2:00-5:00" penciled in for May 8.
Though exams officially now are beginning to rear their ugly heads, we have known about them since last fall, possibly even selecting courses according to their placement on the exam schedule. But in the end, it's not the exams that pack the punch: It's the 97 other assignments you are responsible for in addition to studying for exams.
What does this lead to? Aside from increasing the number of University students frantically studying in Alderman Stacks or pulling all-nighters at Clemons, it simply leads to mediocrity. For instance, in the two weeks ahead, I have three papers due - two of which I will hand in on the final days of classes before taking cumulative exams in both of those courses. You don't need to be a nuclear physics major to see the dilemma here: There are not enough hours in the day to write superb papers and study adequately for finals. Ultimately, sacrifices must be made. Though some of my professors may be old enough to have had cocktails on the Lawn with Mr. Jefferson himself, the majority did not graduate from college all that long ago. In fact, a few of my classes are even taught by graduate students, who should be able to sympathize with the burden of an overly stressful work load.
This is not to imply that students at the University are ill equipped or unwilling to put their noses to the grindstone and perform under pressure. On the contrary, no one around here bats an eye at the person who declines a night out on Rugby to hibernate in the library. We've all "been there, done that." And while it may come as a shock to some students that they are here primarily to receive an education - not to spend four nights a week at the Biltmore - most students are fairly focused on their academic obligations.
Perhaps they may even become too focused. As professors assign end-of-term papers and problem sets, or try to squeeze one additional novel into the syllabus, the more serious (read: pre-Comm) students may feel the need to shrink away from social events to an extreme.
In an effort to combat such behavior and see friends before summer incurs separation, one of my fourth-year friends has chosen to conduct his own "office hours" in his final days at the University. Though he promised to give "unstudied advice" on assignments or test preparation, it is fairly certain that these office hours will be very different from the kind you expect from your sociology professor. However, both types share an underlying aim: to provide extra contact and communication that are not achieved during class time. It's easy to strike up a conversation with the group of students you see Monday through Friday in Cabell Hall as you suffer through your 50-minute discussion section together. Or perhaps you chat briefly with the friend who sits next to you during your weekly UJC meeting.
Yet these short conversations are not enough to sustain the friendships that give a moderately large university its close-knit feel. More importantly, informal gatherings of close friends become even more crucial as the stress level rises before exams. The next time you suffer a mental breakdown in an attempt to summarize Roman Civilization in 1,500 words or less, opt instead for office hours with friends rather than another round of Snood on your computer.
Sometimes, we need to refresh and regroup before tackling nine different assignments for the same class.
If your room has that "end of year disaster zone" look to it, maybe having guests over is not the best idea. But there's always a free table at Starbucks or the Pav if you need to catch up with friends for awhile. And attending real office hours with your professors might also be a good way to organize your efforts and gain some advice on completing everything they have assigned.
But in the end, if all else fails, there's always Snood.
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