While the college experience involves developing our time management skills, there is a specific week in all of our schedules that leads to an overflow of students in Pius XII Memorial Library during overnight hours.
Students leave ghostly chairs in the classes that they cut to study for exams in other classes, and trash cans barely contain the number of empty coffee cups that get thrown away.
Midterm’s week is a terrible time for our academics and our schedules; it’s worse than finals week. The structure of the exams is different.
Finals week is free of classes. This extra time to study alleviates some tension.
Midterms, however, continue as classes continue, which places an immense burden on time management.
Material is being given to us that will be on the midterm as the test approaches, so studying ahead of time is an ineffective strategy.
Students balance the workload of several classes – not one class, as professors often forget.
With homework assignments due simultaneously, it becomes impossible to study on a daily, incremental basis, unlike finals week.
Students instead opt to cut classes to study or pull all-nighters. These are unhealthy study habits, which are encouraged by the structure of midterms week.
Another problem with the structure of midterms week is that students often do not have a distinct grade in the class until midterms week; this makes midterms more imperative than finals.
Students need to stress over this exam more than the other one, as it can determine the initial grade they receive in certain courses.
Understanding the importance of midterms puts into perspective the need for restructuring midterms week to be slightly more accommodating to busy student schedules.
With some brainstorming, we can create a smooth system that does not encourage bad study habits and potentially lower students’ academic performance.
We are not advocating that the academic integrity of our University be lowered.
We don’t expect courses to be easier in any way, or that we have less coursework. Rigor is a necessary part of the college educational experience.
However, we do not believe in a policy that discourages students from studying in healthy ways.
We need only a little bit of rest for the weary.
