V & Finals

[Beguilement]

If you're in college in the US, chances are you're currently, just were, or are just about in final exam time.

First of all, shame on you for being here! Go study, damn it! (Unless you've already taken them, in which case.. congrats!)

Second of all..
Anyone else feel like V right now? The bloodshot eyes, neglecting friends and family to make your time count in this critical period while you wrestle with concepts most people can't even understand in a dire attempt to win something? At times like this, it's so easy to readily neglect and reject the world for the greater purpose.

Say something quick, then back to the books with you! If you're in finals right now and NOT challenged, get a second major! Have one? Overload your course schedule and get a third! Or a part-time internship through the semester.

If only we had a slightly greater ability to apply our "arcane" power, we could do so much more..

[Lord_Drayakir]

I have a final, and a job interview tomorrow. The final is at 12:15, the job interview is at 11:30. I'm so incredibly screwed, it's not even funny. What's funnier is that we're studying comparative anatomy, so we got to dissect birds... heh. Okay. Time for another caffeine infusion.

Hey, maybe that's why :vaarsuvius: wanted an espresto machine?

[Beguilement]

I need sleeping pills. The only way I can think clearly is if I work myself up to (as I have ADD and need to focus heavily to overcome it). The downside is that, once worked up, it's practically impossible for me to sleep, even when utterly and deathly exhausted.. so I can't take the four-hour naps at night I'd like to between days.

Bah, it's going to be another couple of days before I actually sleep. And it's not pretty, I'll tell you that much. I'm already halfway loopy. (I may seem even stranger; if this is the case, then I'm underestimating the sleep deprivation's effects.)

I wonder if V feels this way? Her decision-making and general well being must be going to hell. No wonder many arcane casters becomes liches- the no-need-to-sleep-or-eat thing must be incredible..

[RandomEncounter]

Yes, yes shame on me for doing this instead of finishing up my essay, I only have one final left though.

I completely agree with what your saying. I had two finals a week ago and i had spent 6 hours studying a still felt like i wasn't ready. Being a mage is really stressful

edit: at least i'm not drunk off my ass right now. Some people.

[Lord_Drayakir]

Yes, yes shame on me for doing this instead of finishing up my essay, I only have one final left though.

I completely agree with what your saying. I had two finals a week ago and i had spent 6 hours studying a still felt like i wasn't ready. Being a mage is really stressful

edit: at least i'm not drunk off my ass right now. Some people.

I've made a solemn vow since HS not to indulge in alcohol before finals. Oh, and look, I'm posting here instead of studying. Must be the caffeine's distractive effect.

What's weird is that I have a friend that can pull off all-nighters without coffee. I seriously want to take her apart, and find out how she does it.

[Pulsecode]

I can... it's not too bad if you keep yourself active. Coffee makes me worse, actually. There's just something about it, we've never gotten on. Makes me feel... brittle.

I've stayed up all night then worked on my feet 9am-7pm in a recording studio before now. As long as you stay stimulated and energetic, and never sit on anything comfortable, it's fine.

[Squirrel_Token]

I have an exam tomorrow... and the day after that... and the day after that... AND the day after that (yes, on Saturday)! So naturally, I'm here.

I can do the no caffeine thing; I've promised myself that I'm not going to get addicted to the stuff before medical school at least. I once took an Immunobiology exam on 45 minutes of sleep and got an 85, so I guess it's worked out OK so far. If I absolutely NEED some caffeineI just get a Diet Coke or something; I hope I never have to actually resort to coffee.

[Ahiman]

I am done. And I love it. I was thinking earlier that his alignment might change because of the way he is acting. But no, I think its just the "Finals" syndrome and he should be forgiven.

Good luck all.

[silvadel]

I have a final, and a job interview tomorrow. The final is at 12:15, the job interview is at 11:30. I'm so incredibly screwed, it's not even funny. What's funnier is that we're studying comparative anatomy, so we got to dissect birds... heh. Okay. Time for another caffeine infusion.

Hey, maybe that's why :vaarsuvius: wanted an espresto machine?

Well, if your interview lasts over 45 minutes then you are in real trouble.

[Quorothorn]

I'm personally in the home-stretch: three finals left, on Thursday, Monday and Tuesday.

Obviously, I'm...not currently studying for them. I will be studying for some of them later today, though. Honestly!

[dish]

No finals. I still manage to have enough going on in my life that I feel the way V looks. (I hope I don't look the way V looks, mind.)

However, you have just reminded me that I do have an essay due. (Argh.)

[HydwenPrydain]

I've been done since last Thursday, and am now playing a Civ 3 scenario, watching my grades be updated, and pigging out now that I have a kitchen again... Suckers!

[Doug Lampert]

I'm personally in the home-stretch: three finals left, on Thursday, Monday and Tuesday.

Obviously, I'm...not currently studying for them. I will be studying for some of them later today, though. Honestly!
Back when I was still taking classes I didn't study AT ALL for at least 24 hours prior to any final. I started this rule in highschool, and every time I violated it I did far worse than my normal performance.

Seriously, if I didn't know it by then I wasn't gonna cram a semester's worth of stuff into my crappy short term memory in the last day. But going into an exam rested and relaxed was often worth an extra letter grade, and KNOWING in advance that I was going to take those last 24 hours off helped a LOT on making me study some in advance. Maybe cramming works better for people with an actual short term memory worth mentioning, but for me it was a bad, bad idea.

Back when I was teaching I had a not particularly bad student come up to me after I gave back a test she'd bombed on and say "I don't know what went wrong, I studied for six hours for this test last night."

I think I actually said, "Next time study less." Probably why my teacher evaluations weren't all that good. But seriously, especially for math (what I was teaching) going in able to THINK is worth far more than memorizing one more formula or rule that you will then mis-aply because you aren't thinking clearly. If I had a final tomorrow I'd still be here, I certainly wouldn't be wasting my energy studying!

[Saeveo]

Not finals, but summer exams nonetheless. And some of them count towards exemptions from official actuarial exams later, if I do well enough.

So yeah, I'm kind of feeling it. I've gone through a jar and a half of coffee in the last week, I've terrible headaches and I seem to be breaking out for the first time since I was, like, 16. And none of the dozen or so insurance companies I've applied to have gotten back to me about summer work.

These are not fun times.

[Jokerz]

Jeez. I'm a freshman in high school, and I've been writing my term paper, studying for finals, and been working on my eagle scout requirement.:smallfrown: Finals are in 3 weeks, and I already feel like dying. IN HIGH SCHOOL.

[Lupy]

Geez I'm in.... I won't say.... But if you knew how tired I was you'd be like, wait 7 years. I look alot like V right now, and I'm so tired my voice sounds androgynous, and I can't sleep. :smallannoyed:

[Chronos]

What's weird is that I have a friend that can pull off all-nighters without coffee. I seriously want to take her apart, and find out how she does it.If I absolutely must pull an all-nighter, I avoid caffeine, too. Sure, it keeps me awake, but it also completely ruins my attention span and task focus, thus probably defeating the reason I was pulling the all-nighter to begin with. What I do do, is drink a heck of a lot of water, and every so often do a round of jumping jacks or some such to keep the blood flowing.

Lord_Drayakir, at the test I proctored yesterday, one student showed up over an hour late, and still finished before time was up. So don't stress out too much. Although looking at the timestamps, I guess I'm telling you this a little too late...

[Mando Knight]

Alright, everyone... let's develop the spell "Take Test," put it on all spellcasters' lists as a level 0 spell ('cept for Pallys and Rangers because of their minimum spell level...), and then learn the "Maximize Spell" feat...

[Wooter]

Crap! I should be studying! Do I even know where my book is?

|Oh, there it is. Crisis averted.

[Ktulu]

And, far, far away from America, on the other side of the world in a little country in NZ, three months after NCEA exams have finished, I sit back on my chair, and smile evilly at the hapless people still studying as hard as I was right now. Then I go and watch TV. For as long as I want :smallbiggrin:

[whitemane]

OK... Listening to all these people talk about studying for finals brings up several memories, so I thought I would give my 2 copper pieces about cramming for finals and such... I just finished my Masters Degree last October and I'm going on to pursue my Doctorate in October. (For the record, while I am not currently taking any classes, I am getting ready to get married in 2 months which means that I am totally frazzled as we get ready for the wedding...)

Here's my thought on cramming for finals... It's always a bad idea. If you don't know the information 24 hours before the test, you probably aren't going to learn it. Even if you do somehow manage to squeak by in the test, depending on the field you are studying, you need to know the earlier stuff well in order to do well later on.

That having been said, I'll also say this... Doing well in college is not about being particularly smart... It's about having endurance. I know alot of people out there that are well educated, have impressive degrees, and are as smart as a bag of rocks.

Feel free to use or ignore at your leisure...

[brant167]

-throws two "6 Hour Energy Drinks" into a large triple shot espresso- I can relate very very very well.

[RosesOnConcrete]

Finals are next week, I have homework out the ass and two overdue essays, and I feel like V looks. I'm always useless for a week or so after finals , too - totally brain-drained. (which is good this semester, because as soon as I get home from college we're getting a new puppy and I will have plenty of time to play with him!)

[Doug Lampert]

Finals are next week, I have homework out the ass and two overdue essays, and I feel like V looks. I'm always useless for a week or so after finals , too - totally brain-drained. (which is good this semester, because as soon as I get home from college we're getting a new puppy and I will have plenty of time to play with him!)

Advice from a former professional student and sometimes teacher (Ph.D. math). Don't do that.

Seriously.

A 2.5 hour or so exam doesn't leave anyone brain-drained for a week or more.

Four different 2.5 hour exams over four or five days don't do that either.

If you're brain drained AFTER an exam you were probably (mostly) brain drained when you walked into the room to take the exam. Does ANYONE think that's a good idea?

We've got people discussing energy drinks and caffine in forms little short of an IV to stay concious to cram. Say they manage it. Now what are they doing to stay both concious and coherent during the actual exam?! Seriously guys. Go to bed early the night before and have a nice shot of Maker's Mark or your favorite booze to help you sleep. The night before is NOT the time that it's important you be awake and alert, that time is the EXAM ITSELF.

You should no more study hard for hours on end within 24 hours of an exam than someone getting ready for a marathon should go out and run hard for hours on end within 24 hours of the marathon. REST! RELAX! You'll do better. Really.

Even if cramming really does help on the class you cram for, and every student and every class is different so maybe it really does help you, but even then, are you only taking one final? What does cramming for class A do to your grades in classes B, C, and D?

And if you make it a habit to never cram. If you KNOW from the start of the semester that the term paper due at the start of the exam will NEVER get done if it's not done 48 hours prior to the start of your first exam. If you KNOW that if you haven't learned that conjugation at least 24 hours prior to the start of the first exam you won't learn it at all, then you'll study and work just a bit better the rest of the time if you have half a brain. (You'll also probably avoid professors who give take home finals and big term papers due at the final. This is good. You want to avoid professors who try to make you work the week prior to finals, those S. O. B.s are trying to wreck your grades in every other class you are taking.)

[Fiery Diamond]

Eh, finals. Don't like em at all.

Btw, shouldn't this thread be in Friendly Banter? Just because V is mentioned in the thread doesn't mean the focus is OOTS. Most of the posts don't even mention her.

-Fiery Diamond

[Saeveo]

-throws two "6 Hour Energy Drinks" into a large triple shot espresso- I can relate very very very well.

Que twitching, palpitations, hallucinations and head explosions. And superpowers, hopefully... :smallbiggrin:

[Wych]

I have a tip that I would like to share, beer steins make for awesome coffee cups during revision time. For those that swear by coffee you save valuable walking to kitchen and pouring time.

[Saeveo]

I have a tip that I would like to share, beer steins make for awesome coffee cups during revision time. For those that swear by coffee you save valuable walking to kitchen and pouring time.

The true innovators amongst us take ours from IV drips. Saves valuable time that would otherwise be wasted on all of that digestion and absorption lark.

[lord of kobolds]

HA!
never studied for a test in my life! still always get te best test grades in my class, even qwhen i take a class that's a few years ahead of most people my age
:smalltongue:

[Estelindis]

HA!
never studied for a test in my life! still always get te best test grades in my class, even qwhen i take a class that's a few years ahead of most people my age
:smalltongue:
Well, then, I guess the only thing you really need to study is humility. :smalltongue:

[Amy]

HA!
never studied for a test in my life! still always get te best test grades in my class, even qwhen i take a class that's a few years ahead of most people my age
:smalltongue:

Good for you, but be careful. In high school I never needed to study--in college I realized I had never learned how. I think my GPA is a little over 2.2 now. Also, I hope you spell better on English tests than you do online.