Hamilton, the extremely popular musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, has come to Salt Lake City. Somewhat unfortunately for students at the University of Utah, this has directly intersected with finals week. In honor of these two conflicting focuses for students’ attentions, here are eight classic finals scenes as told by Hamilton quotes.*
1. “Why do your write like you’re running out of time? Write day and night like you’re running out of time?”
Somehow, essays and papers always seem to be pushed back until the very last minute (at least in my experience). The unfortunate consequence? You end up writing like Alexander Hamilton, except he apparently enjoyed writing every second he was alive. At least we have the internet, now, to help our late-night writing sessions.
2. “Your sentences border on senseless, and you are paranoid in every paragraph how they perceive you.”
Of course, writing last minute ends up creating some papers of… questionable quality. It never helps when the paper in question is 25% of the grade for the semester and has a word limit. Hopefully there’s something salvageable in the collection of words typed on the page, and you won’t have to burn it all.
3. “It’s the middle of the night.” “Can we confer, sir?”
A little stress is certainly warranted with finals. It’s also warranted to get in touch with professors, even encouraged, to make sure that you really are doing what you should be for projects and such. Somehow, this communication always seems to come at the early hours of the morning. Occasionally, the professor will respond almost immediately even at ridiculously early hours of the morning, which is always a mixture of welcome and shocking.
4.“I hadn’t slept in a week. I was weak, I was awake.”
By the time your papers are mostly written and you have studied for tests as much as possible, it feels like you haven’t slept in days. It’s hard to keep people from getting on your nerves at this point, especially when they’re done with finals and it seems like everything they do is meant to taunt you with this fact.
5. “Well, I’m going back to sleep.”
When you do finally go to sleep, nothing is going to get you up until you are ready to wake up. Okay, maybe screaming from outside will, but just long enough to verify it’s people venting, and not anybody in trouble. Then it’s back to a well deserved nap.
6. “Yo, who the f is this?”
It’s always interesting turning up to a final and discovering just how many people are actually in your class. It is less fun when someone has decided to take the seat you’ve been sitting in for the entire semester. Who exactly do they think they are, claiming your seat like they’re the one that’s been showing up for class?
7. “What’d I miss?”
After getting your spot back and settling down for the test, it’s hard to ignore all of the last minute studying going on around you. Hopefully everything you are hearing at least sounds familiar. If something doesn’t, that’s why you made a friend in the class, right? They also don’t recognize a specific concept? Well, at least you know both of you are winging it.
8. “Tens of thousands of people flood the streets. There are screams and church bells ringing.”
After your last final, the world suddenly seems like a more promising place. The celebration may only be in your head (after all, just because you’re done with your finals, unfortunate people around you may not), but it is a grand celebration indeed. It doesn’t really matter how you feel you did on your finals at this point, because for the first time in weeks they can be ignored. It’s time to enjoy life again!
Finals can be a rough time, but Hamilton is going to be there to help me through it. For anyone that is holding out on listening to Hamilton, I would (obviously) recommend just going ahead and trying it. Maybe have a tissue box ready (depending on how easily you cry). I’m not the biggest fan of rap, but I can’t get enough of the songs. Even if you really dislike rap, there are songs like “Wait For It” that are simply wonderful and songs like “You’ll Be Back” that are (disturbingly) hilarious, all without any rap verses. If nothing else, Hamilton is more than two hours of somewhat accurate Revolutionary War era material to help you study for a history final. Good luck to everyone on any upcoming tests and projects! I hope you blow them all away!
*Gifs do not necessarily correlate to the scene in Hamilton associated with the quote