Fall Term Finale

Keri S.

December 10, 2009 - 10:15 PM

As I am sure you can all guess, this week has been absolutely crazy! When final exams come around, it's time to crack down and really learn everything you should have throughout the term. It's when you regret all those nights earlier in the term where you made excuses for not doing all of the work. "Oh, I don't need to read this chapter because the professor went over all this in class earlier". Or "I can read this article any time, but my friends are only going to the movies at this moment". Or my personal favorite: "I have had a long week and need to not do homework for a while".

We all have the best intentions as students, but with the insane work load, you can only do so much in a week without going crazy. That is why we sometimes choose friends over finance or the bars over books. Trying to balance a social life and a student life is a very difficult task, and one that I am still trying to figure out after 10 terms at the University.

So this term, I have put some of my course material on the back burner. Fast forward to last weekend, and I suddenly had to remember exactly how many pots are on that back burner and tend to them. Luckily and a surprise to me, I have been very good about keeping up with my studies this term. I attribute this to the genuine interest in my classes. Reading article after article was not a chore but a pleasure for my Sports Marketing class. My favorite part of finals week was creating an online "e-book" about how sports entities should embrace and use social media for my Essentials of Social Media class. And creating ad campaigns for my Principles of Advertising class was awesome!

But DSC...ohhhhhh DSC how you have haunted me all term. Although I went into this class with an open mind, by about week three I realized this class was going to be a struggle. Spending hours and hours slaving over an Access database was absolute torture to me. As a result of all my unattended to DSC work, I spent my entire finals week staring at the DSC book trying to re-learn all the material. This method of studying is not recommended or endorsed by me, but I know my peers use very similar practices come finals week. You couldn't go near the Knight Library because it was so packed full of panicked students cramming.

Luckily, I survived all my finals, and even got an A on my first one! (I am still waiting for the rest of my grades to come out). After my last final came to an end today at 3:00, I ran home and hit the road. Although it has been a great term, I was ready to come back to Salem to be with my family!

48 hours ago, I was staring at a DSC book in my living room about ready to pull out my hair from stress, snuggled in blankets and sweatshirts sitting on the floor next to my heater. I only left the apartment to get food, and had a diet that consisted of Red Bulls, Subway sandwiches, and M&Ms.

Now, I am sitting by the warm fireplace with my dog curled up next to me, sipping on some hot cocoa and with a belly full of home cooked yummy-ness. I am relaxed and comforted by all of the joy that is in my house, and glad I have the next three weeks to relax and enjoy spending time with my family and friends in Salem.