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So I had my final exam for J-term today, and.......well. I'm totally freaking out about it.
Anyone who's known me for a while knows that I have a very, very hard time finishing an exam within the time limit. I'm an awfully slow writer, I like to be thorough when I often don't have the time to, and I have some issues with staying focused, mostly because I've let my procrastination and general slacker sensibilities go to the point where my motivation is affected. As a result, the grades on my exams are affected too; I don't do as well as I could have, but the professors are generally pretty forgiving.
Today, though, was pretty bad. As I mentioned before, we had to write three essay questions and five short answer questions (no more than five sentences each) within a two hour period. Think that's hard? Trust me, it was harder. I had to skip a good chunk of the third essay and three of the short answer questions just because I ran out of time and the professor was subtly pressuring me to get it done RIGHT NOW. So I hand it in, tell him that I couldn't finish, that I had to skip some questions and resort to using bullet points for others, that I was willing to take penalties, etc. etc. etc, and he said, "Don't worry about it, we know it was pretty difficult, you did pretty well on the last exam so we know it's not that you don't know what you're talking about, we'll try to be fair." And then when I was trying to relax and take a nap this afternoon, I got this vague feeling that I did everything wrong, that everything I said was incorrect, that I misremembered everything, etc. Nice, brain, very nice. -_-;
This is why I prefer papers and take-home exams to regular exams, even though they take a lot longer -- I can take the time to plan out what I say, and I can be as thorough and clear as I can without having to resort to rushing to get everything down, which is not what I'm used to at all. It's nice that with regular exams, you're done after a couple of hours, but no matter how hard I study, I'm always screwing them up one way or another. (The professor actually told me that they didn't resort to take-homes like they usually do because there's not enough time in J-term.) I could've asked for an extension ahead of time, but it would've been easier if I had a 504 plan, and I don't anymore. I mean, everyone else can do it within the time limit, why can't I? And for all those who think I shouldn't be so worried about my grades -- oh how I wish I could, f-list. How I wish I could. :( Either way, I need to pay a visit to some folks in the library a visit pretty soon, because even though I'm slowly starting to get better keeping up on my reading, participating in class, keeping a schedule, and all that other good stuff, if I don't get better at exams, I will seriously bomb this next semester.
In the meantime -- if there is a truly benevolent, forgiving divine force in the universe that (still) cares about human beings, then it will make sure I will get a grade I'm happy with on this exam. Right? RIGHT? :O
Oh well. At least my books for American Foreign Policy class next semester have already arrived at the house. Maybe I can get a jump start on reading them, who knows? ^_^;
Okay, meme time. This one's from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
misskalloway:
How it works: A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.B. Tag seven people to do the same. C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it."
( Read more... )
Anyone who's known me for a while knows that I have a very, very hard time finishing an exam within the time limit. I'm an awfully slow writer, I like to be thorough when I often don't have the time to, and I have some issues with staying focused, mostly because I've let my procrastination and general slacker sensibilities go to the point where my motivation is affected. As a result, the grades on my exams are affected too; I don't do as well as I could have, but the professors are generally pretty forgiving.
Today, though, was pretty bad. As I mentioned before, we had to write three essay questions and five short answer questions (no more than five sentences each) within a two hour period. Think that's hard? Trust me, it was harder. I had to skip a good chunk of the third essay and three of the short answer questions just because I ran out of time and the professor was subtly pressuring me to get it done RIGHT NOW. So I hand it in, tell him that I couldn't finish, that I had to skip some questions and resort to using bullet points for others, that I was willing to take penalties, etc. etc. etc, and he said, "Don't worry about it, we know it was pretty difficult, you did pretty well on the last exam so we know it's not that you don't know what you're talking about, we'll try to be fair." And then when I was trying to relax and take a nap this afternoon, I got this vague feeling that I did everything wrong, that everything I said was incorrect, that I misremembered everything, etc. Nice, brain, very nice. -_-;
This is why I prefer papers and take-home exams to regular exams, even though they take a lot longer -- I can take the time to plan out what I say, and I can be as thorough and clear as I can without having to resort to rushing to get everything down, which is not what I'm used to at all. It's nice that with regular exams, you're done after a couple of hours, but no matter how hard I study, I'm always screwing them up one way or another. (The professor actually told me that they didn't resort to take-homes like they usually do because there's not enough time in J-term.) I could've asked for an extension ahead of time, but it would've been easier if I had a 504 plan, and I don't anymore. I mean, everyone else can do it within the time limit, why can't I? And for all those who think I shouldn't be so worried about my grades -- oh how I wish I could, f-list. How I wish I could. :( Either way, I need to pay a visit to some folks in the library a visit pretty soon, because even though I'm slowly starting to get better keeping up on my reading, participating in class, keeping a schedule, and all that other good stuff, if I don't get better at exams, I will seriously bomb this next semester.
In the meantime -- if there is a truly benevolent, forgiving divine force in the universe that (still) cares about human beings, then it will make sure I will get a grade I'm happy with on this exam. Right? RIGHT? :O
Oh well. At least my books for American Foreign Policy class next semester have already arrived at the house. Maybe I can get a jump start on reading them, who knows? ^_^;
Okay, meme time. This one's from
misskalloway:How it works: A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
( Read more... )
