Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Studying? We don’t need no stinkin’ studying!

I survived my first British essay test (Europe and the Wider World: Crusades to the Indian Mutiny)! I was dreadfully worried about it, seeing as how I had been used to taking math tests back at SCSU. Last week was supposed to be revision week (what they like to call ‘studying’), but as usual, I procrastinated. Hey, it’s in my nature…I can’t change! Let’s take a look at how my revision week progressed:

Monday I watched a plethora of DVDs and glanced every now and then at the notebook containing my notes from the semester;

Tuesday I actually went to the library to check out books about the ‘New’ World, the Ottoman Empire and the British Raj (India). Mind you, I never actually opened any of these books; I just piled them in a neat little corner of my desk;

Wednesday I made an appointment to go see one of my history tutors to get feedback on my essay. The teacher strike continues across the United Kingdom, so none of my tutors could give me grades for any of my essays, but some of the more understanding ones had offered to give feedback regarding them. Luckily, this tutor let me see my actual mark (it’s unofficial, of course, as she wasn’t supposed to grade it yet *wink, wink*). So, I found out that on a scale of 1 to 20 (they call it the ‘common assessment scale’) I got an 18! I was thrilled, and even more so when I discussed it with my mate who informed me that as a rule they generally only go to 18 for first years. Yeah for me, I am so smart, I am smart, S-M-R-T! J So anyhoo, my day was going so well that I decided not to jinx it by studying and instead went into the city centre with my mate. We shopped, she handed out CVs to random shops, then we went to the movie theater and saw some strange movie called Romance and Cigarettes with Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Mandy Moore, etc. They would sing along to old songs throughout the movie…how odd! So by the time I got home, I was too tired to study…darn;

Thursday is when I started to get worried. I finally picked up one of the books on the ‘New’ World and started reading. I soon lost interest and popped in a DVD. After the movie finished, I again started reading. I soon lost interest yet again and put in another DVD. Suffice it to say that this cycle continued for much of the day! Eventually I gave up and went to sleep;

Friday began my weekend of motivation. I had organized a study session between two of my mates and we convened in the kitchen of one of them at 10am to study. There was much laughter, much fun, and a little bit of studying that happened. At about 2pm we dispersed, as my mate Ross had to go to work. I returned to my bedroom where I actually continued to study. I started to take notes, which kept me focused, and I became a studying machine! I continued until about midnight when I went to bed;

Saturday became my first full day of studying. I got up at about 9am and immediately sat down to work. This continued throughout the day, and I didn’t even stop to watch a DVD! I went to bed again at about midnight;

Sunday was crunch time. I again got up at about 9am and was in schizo mode. I was writing notes, reading and highlighting like a fiend. My best friend that day was an enormous bottle of Diet Coke. After my eyes turned traitor at about 1am I was forced to give up and go to sleep.

Monday dawned and butterflies began emerge and dance in my stomach. I went over to my mate’s place for a lunchtime cram session at 11am. We went over everything again and again and again. Then, she told me something unrelated to the subject, and I swear I felt a piece of information that I had previously known leave my head. My brain was full, and anything new that I learned would replace the old info. Finally, 2pm arrived and we all did a slow death march to campus. Everyone gathered outside the building (they won’t let you in until about 5 minutes before the exam) and you could feel the palpable tension amongst the horde. 2:55pm came much too quickly and we were all corralled into the building. When I stepped into the room (a huge gymnasium actually) all I saw were hundreds of students seated at individual desks looking extremely nervous. I had never seen so many people gathered together to take an exam before…it was quite a disconcerting sight, I can tell you! My small group of 4 headed to the back to find a seat. I looked down at the question sheet and began to panic. There weren’t any questions that I could answer! Finally they gave the signal to begin and I re-examined the question sheet. I hesitantly circled three of the twelve questions that I would attempt to answer and began writing. Having two hours to write three questions, you are forced to confine yourself to a strict time limit of forty minutes for each question. That time period allowed me to write 3 pages for my first question, 2 ½ pages for my second question and a scant 2 pages for the last question. I was assured that this was quite normal, but I still feel like I didn’t write enough. Nonetheless, the exam is over and I have survived my first real essay test. Did I pass? Only fate knows that, and I’m told that it will inform me in about a month’s time.

Having taken four subjects, I still have three exams left to take. My next one is tomorrow afternoon: my English lit test. I’m not quite so nervous about this exam, as we can bring the books that we’ve read this semester into the room with us to help us with our essays, and I’m usually pretty good at ‘BS’ing my way through these kinds of test. After that exam, my next final is next Monday (Scotland history) and then my last one on Tuesday (Britain and Ireland history). I’m quite worried about these last two, but I do have almost a week to study for them. Of course, past precedent doesn’t give me a lot of confidence about this!

Now, I’m off to the library to check out some books for my exams next week. Hasta luego!

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