OBLIGATORY EXAM SEASON POST

I just had the worst (THE WORST) organic chemistry exam of my life.

Worst.

Well it was last night but I was too busy having a pity party to blog about it.

I’m currently taking PSYC 101 and we have 3 midterms in that class and before every midterm, my professor likes to remind everyone to try to do their best and that exam results do not reflect you or your own self-worth. Bless her soul, she always tells us to believe in ourselves and to not stress out too much because exams DO NOT DEFINE US.

But let me tell you something.

Despite what people say, you will feel like that.

And no matter how much you know exams don’t define you, in those moments, you’ll feel like they are your entire life.

You’re going to just sit there and you’re going to think over and over and over:

I’m a failure, I suck
I’m a failure, why am I even in school?
I’m a failure, everything is awful.

And your mind is going to imagine so many different scenarios about how you’re going no where in life and you are going to question every single thing you do.

BUT.

But.

Those moments will pass. Better exam grades will happen. Maybe worse ones. More important things will push to the front of your mind. Things like that party your friend invited you on Friday night. Things like your plans for thrift shopping. Even the smallest things like how awful the long line for the 99 has been recently. Those things will be the forefront of your attention.

So no, exam results don’t define you.

But yeah, for those moments it’ll feel like it.

I say embrace it. I say accept it. I say let it happen.

Don’t start berating yourself for caring about your grades and don’t let others do it either. If you wanna say you think you failed, SAY IT. If you want to complain about how the professor totally and completely screwed you over by making every single question a trick question because he hates you then COMPLAIN.

These things show that you are a student who cares. And that moment is probably an integral part of being a post secondary student. Because exams happen all the time. Good ones, bad ones, easy ones, horrible-life-force-sucking ones.

But it’ll pass.

Live in the moment!

Even if it’s a bad one, because we are humans and this is life. It would not be interesting without the bad moments and we wouldn’t learn much either. Don’t ever beat yourself up for being human and worrying about a grade. Just remember that it’ll pass.

… Okay that’s enough from me.

I’m still sad about my o-chem midterm, but hey, on the upside it’s a long weekend this weekend?

Midterm Round 2!

But round 1 JUST ENDED.

Oh wait.

University don’t care. University don’t give a shit.

Okay, a few things to remember for round 2.

  1. You have now officially BEEN THERE and DONE THAT. So learn from the mistakes you made in first round and don’t let history repeat itself! If you did bad because you didn’t sleep the night before then SLEEP, YOUNG GRASSHOPPER, SLEEP.
  2. Coffee. So I actually forgot that coffee has a bad consequence… AKA: that energy you feel turns into a crash. A crash proportional to the amount of delicious caffeinated goodness you’ve consumed. So, my friends, try not to chug down the coffee so much during midterm season!
  3. Don’t forget about your classes. Remember that during the time you decide to just ignore what your prof was saying so you could study, or maybe even skipping class entirely can be a problem when that material you missed out on is on the next midterm. AKA this week.
  4. Say no to the XBox/PS3/Wii/Tumblr/WhatWeShouldCallUBC/Facebook/Twitter/Where-was-I-going-with-this
  5. Office Hours are friends.
  6. So are TAs
  7. Multiple choice shouldn’t be viewed as “1/4 chance I’m correct! :D” but instead as “35 multiple choice questions is like 35 different doors I have to open and behind ever door is a 75% chance something will punch me in the gut”. Errr, you guys I think last round was a giant hit to my ego.
  8. Do your best and hope for the best!
  9. DON’T LEAVE QUESTIONS BLANK. Even if you have no idea, write anything down, equations, explanations, conclusions. This means you made the effort and sometimes part marks happen. And if all else fails you, draw a picture. At least you’ll make the poor TA marking all of the exams smile.
  10. Group study is a wonderful thing. You can help each other with questions and such.
  11. Biology 112 students this is for you: The Cheat Sheet first round was completely useless, remember that? Just keep in mind that spending time late into the night putting as much information onto the cheat sheet (this was definitely me) is probably not going to help you this time around. Study the main concepts and understand instead of memorize! Put things like pictures and charts on The Cheat Sheet, things you know you’ll forget. Otherwise you’re wasting precious studying time.
  12. Chem 121 students: There’s probably going to be (again) too many questions for 1 hour, so pick your battles, fellow soldiers.
  13. Math 100: … Ganbare! (Which is Japanese for: good luck!)
  14. Physics 101: Formula sheets are SUPER useful! Aside from actual formulas, an idea is to put some diagrams in there! It’s really helpful! Constants too! AND CONVERSIONS, just in case you’re like me and need help with going from mL to metres cubed.
  15. KEEP YOUR HEADS UP! If you do bad on midterms, remember that there are still finals and that hard work WILL pay off. Do your best as long as it really is legitimately the best you could have done given the time you had.

No, this isn’t a super late after midterms post. It’s an early BEFORE midterms post…

 

 

Missed out on David Choi and Clara C tonight

Darling, It’s You by Clara C and David Choi

If anyone is wondering, David and Clara are youtube singers who I lalalalalalove. But unfortunately as a student, I had no money for the tickets and I have midterms this week and therefore have no time for anything minus making complain blogs and studying.

BUT MAN WOULD I HAVE FANGIRLED LIKE CRAZY IF I WAS THERE.

I am fangirling right now listening to their song. (Link above, go check it out! :D)

I missed this live.

They’re beautiful live, in case you’re wondering. Because I met Clara.

Clara’s amazing by the way.

Just.

Midterms, why.

Just what.

I better pass these stupid exams.

David: https://www.youtube.com/user/davidchoimusic
Clara:  https://www.youtube.com/user/ClaraCMusic