Moses Richu

It’s that time of the year when students begin to question the wisdom in having taken up certain courses. For the ambitious lot within our masses who chose to do battle against 6 courses this semester, time is equitably appropriated between emergency studying, strolls to the café for another cup of coffee, brief naps and cursing the legion of professors for ‘thoughtlessly’ scheduling exams what feels like moments apart! Those who went out on a limb to ‘try something totally new’ now find themselves treading water in a deep ocean of confusion, as sharks in the form of T.A. markers set their firm gaze on them. On the other end of the spectrum, those amongst us who for no reason took on a particularly light manageable course load rather equitably appropriate their time between postponing studying for that far-away midterm, strolls to the café for a lovely mocha and chat, sleep and pitying the aforementioned students. Some energy is, of course, conserved, to pat themselves on the back for their unerring foresight. This begs the question; which group of students is happiest with the service they are getting from UBC?

Midterms are the time when post-purchase dissonance sets in amongst the students. Similar to that experience after buying amazing shoes, when you get home and admire them, mentally matching up potential outfits to match their excellent colour tone, and massaging them to fully take in their remarkable texture…not to mention that new smell! And then the cold fact hits you as hard as a result from Prof. Gateman’s midterm; you just spent two hundred dollars on those shoes! The guilt from having spend such a huge sum on the shoes quickly sets in. Hopefully, this gradually subsides and you keep the shoes instead of taking them back for a refund.
As soon as the midterms begin, the first two groups of students are pulling their hair out, staring at a mountain of books and wondering how they’ll ever get it all done. They fret over having been so heavily invested in this potentially precarious decision, and may even wish they could undo it. They worry about the possible effects on their averages. The wonderful opportunities they had envisaged, such as eligibility for certain programs or graduating early are all tossed out of the mental window, as  stress walks through the door.

Somehow they make it through all this, hopefully with a few strands of hair still attached to their head. And when they’re on the other end of the divide, with the exams behind them and the credits added to their logs, we must once again ask ourselves; which group of students is happiest with the service they are getting from UBC? The group which enjoyed the extra mochas, but didn’t get into their programme in the time they’d have expected? Or the group which finally managed to catch up on their sleep, yet are matching up their degree and school involvement just as they had envisioned while shopping at the course schedule website?

Happy studying!

Citations

All quotes are from frustrated, somewhat sleep-deprived Sauder students.