Finals -fin!

Yay!  Finals are over as of last week (Tuesday morning, for me), and I've got my grades.  Drumroll, please...

pretty park from last week

...AND the results are:
Calculus: B
Film Studies: A
Senior project: A

YAY!  My GPA is now....3.27 :D  That's a major improvement compared to my freshman year (when I was lucky to get it up to almost 3.0)

same park, this week

I don't want to jinx it, but my grades have been improving as I go through college and mature as a person -meaning my GPA has also been improving.  I think if I were able to go through school long enough, I could eventually get a 4.0 for a term, straight A's.  But, that's a moot point because if I was in school long enough, I wouldn't have to take classes for my major, and could choose easy classes.

pr

case in point: I BSd this an hour before it was due

Like communications -cough i mean, comm is a great major-

this was my final "reaction" to a film screened in class

Anyway, finals time.

If you haven't been to college, you probably pictures finals time as a time when just about everyone buckles down, holes up, and hits the books.  You know, pasty college kids staying up all night writing papers, cramming for stuff they forgot, study groups in quiet rooms, not a lot of partying, and coffee all around (maybe even some adderall).  

found by the math dept. in NewBooger Hall

Maybe it's because my college isn't "traditional" (it's a working man's college), but my college is nothing like that.  "Dead week" -the week before finals isn't really dead; there's lots of on campus activities, presentations, and business-as-usual.

business as usual: my cat sitting on the internet

Personally, for finals, I go through dead week super excited to be almost done with the term.  By the time the weekend before finals starts, I realize I should probably look over my notes and study.  I make plans to study for all these hours, schedule study sessions, get out my books and notes, and then they just sit there, forgotten, as I watch TV, internet, and (my favorite) sleep.

This leads to a slight panic about what to do for the final I have coming up tomorrow/in an hour.  For example, this year, I had 2 finals on Monday and one early on Tuesday.

a drawing of me by one of my students

  I DID do a good job of writing my final reflection for my senior project 5 days before it was due, but the 5 minute oral presentation that was supposed to accompany it?  Didn't start practicing, or even think about what to say, until about 20 minutes before I had to do it.  I COMPLETELY winged it as I did my bit presenting our group project.

My film studies final?  Brought my textbook and flipped through it over a bowl of soup about half an hour before the class.  By the time the final started, I was ready to be gone.  We watched 2 short films twice, but I only watched them each once.  I was done with my entire final for that class in about 15 minutes.  I got 23/25 on it.

Seriously, this guy is trying to make me look like a good student or something.  I'll tell you this much: I didn't write WENDY + LUCY drunk

My calculus final was tricky.  It was early, so last minute cramming wouldn't be useful.  Instead, I started my notes the night before, got tired or possibly bored, so I went to bed.  I planned to wake up early at 5 to finish my notes.  I had to leave by 7, so that left 2 hours to study and get ready.  5 am come, my alarm went off, I got pissed and let it ring until 6.  I hastily scrawled out the rest of my first page of notes, and for the second page, just tore out a random sheet from my class notebook.

That was actually pretty diligent of me!  I'm making myself sound bad, but it's true.  Most people I know are so tired of their classes that by finals, they don't care.  They half-ass their way to success, failure, or mediocrity.  As my roommate says, "It's so nice to see a whole term of work summed up into a tiny little letter."

my cats in the window on the beautiful part of a day

My advice to any new-to-college or not-yet-in-college homeskillets when it comes to finals is: actually study, and you'll rock it.  But, don't stress out either.  It's not worth getting an ulcer over, and if you give yourself an anxiety attack, you'll probably do worse than if you had skipped studying altogether.

My favorite part of finals week?

spending hours in front of a REAL fire in a bar with good friends?

IT'S OVER TIL NEXT TERM!!!! :D  NOW I GET TO BE POOR BUT HAVE FREE TIME!

In my boredom on Monday, I baked (and baked and baked) and I hate baking now

Chocolate chip

Peanut butter kiss

brownies

gummy tea cookies