It's that time again.

The end of the semester means finals, christmas break, and a whole lot of studying. Essentially the entire semester is considered preparing for finals, so why does studying for finals always seem so hard? Is it because we (as students) never actually learned anything in the class, or have we just trained ourselves to think that it's supposed to be hard? Either way, it is definately the most-hated time of the semester. Today was the first dead day, and I studied for a few hours this morning, and a few this afternoon, and now I am at it again. I was just thinking though, is two days really enough time to study for five or six final exams? Some of my classes, I feel like it is almost going to be pointless to study. Especially if there is no hope of raising my grade, and/or I am satusfied with my current grade. Shouldn't that time and energy be put towards a more difficult subject matter? I wonder if other students think and feel this way or if it's just me. I talked to a few of my friends and they say that they don't really worry about finals. They chill, remain stress-free and figure they will make what they make. That seems like a carefree and certainly less-stressful approach, but could I be happy with myself for just completely settling? I really don't think so.

The Big P

On tuesday, we discussed procrastination in class. Some of the students believed it helps out with studies, while others thought it detrimental to school work. I personally feel like it is a huge waste of time and does nothing but hurt your school work. I feel like it's better to just sit down, put away all distractions and focus when there is work to be done or you're on a deadline. Procrastinating only decreases the likelihood that you will ever get said task done. Most students don't like doing homework, but you want to make good grades and have a firm grip on the material, studying, and in a timely manner is pretty much your only option. Unless, of course, you're one of those lucky students who never has to study in order to make A's LOL.

To study or not to study?

Everyone loves that overwhelming sense of accomplishment when you've learned the material, studied hard, and done well on a test. But what about that dense, crushing feeling when you've studied just as hard, and didn't do so well? Did you simply not know the material as well as you thought? Did you completely blank out when it was show time? Or did you merely underestimate the amount of studying that was needed to do a good job? Then there are those people who never study and still manage to get A's. It is extremely hard to not get jealous when you're listening to a friend brag about how they went the entire semester without cracking open a book and managed to aced the class. Are these people any smarter than those that have to spend hours preparing for an exam? Do they just possess better retention skills? Or are they really just that lucky? I feel that this simply shows that each student, as well as his or her academic potential, is different and it's up to you to figure what it takes for you to fulfill yours and if you're willing to do the work (or lack thereof) involved.