For some reason this week of finals sucks real bad. I finally realized why a bit ago too. This is one of the first time where failure is not even a possibility. I don’t want to fail a class, ever, but this is the first time where failure has major consequences. I have been working around the idea and goal of graduating in May. If I fail any of my classes this semester (well not PSY 235, I got a B in that, at least I think I did) I could be here past May. Suddenly this applies an unbearable pressure. I am struggling to concentrate on my exams and struggle to remain calm with the exams coming soon. I have two exams today.
The first is my ECE 462 exam, which I have been unable to study for. This is mostly due to it being a programming course, and I cannot find any real way to study for it beyond redoing code that I already know how to do and have done. The other is that the exam he is giving us is not anything like the past 4 exams in this course, meaning that I go into the exam with no idea what to expect. That really hurts since often I can enter a final with an impression for the types of exams the professor gives and how to prepare for them. I have two hours to answer 5 questions, this could cover anything and I have no idea of how to prepare for anything. I just have to get there and hope I am ready.
The second is my PSY 222 exam. I have studied for this the entire past day and all night thus far. I feel good about it, but know that I must do well to ensure I do well in the course (the final accounts for a whopping 25% of the grade). I’ve felt good going into all the past exams, but because the types of questions range so heavily, I cannot be sure I know what I am going to be asked. This was the same with my other psych final. I studied a lot but when I showed up, the questions asked were just not in the ways I was ready for them. (throwback to my cognitive psych course) I had established cues, aka methods of retrieving the knowledge, that were built in one way of being activated, sadly these cues were not used in the exam questions, which triggered other cues that brought me to close possibilities but not to the proper answer. sigh Maybe I should have just been a psych major, even though I hate memorization, I enjoy the reasoning and problem solving.
Well, shower time and then breakfast and heading to campus.