As college students, our lives revolve around our academics. Sure, it can range from our social lives to our intricate internships, but more important than anything else are our lingering midterms that approach faster than anticipated. As a freshman who is just now experiencing the highs and lows of midterms, I will say I’ve learned not to take time for granted when it comes to online lectures.
I have never really struggled when it came to exams or understanding the basic structure of studying, but my current academic standing in college is saying otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not scraping the bottom of my floating unicorn bed trying to survive my classes. What I am saying is that the inevitable cannon event that we experience as newbies in college can hit us harshly when those Canvas scores come out. Countless hours spent studying for courses that just required basic notes and online lecture participation turned out to be mission impossible when it came to understanding the main objective on midterm day. The vagueness and lack of information that online professors provide have become a discovery in my book. In case you’re wondering as to why I brought this up, I recently attended a lecture hall for my online class that would “supposedly” give us an insider as to what to expect for our final. By the time I got there, the room had turned into a Q&A with the professors rather than a review for the exam.Â
Before it’s assumed that I don’t study (if that’s what you thought), I do. It might sound sarcastic, but it’s not; for the past two months, my brain has retained nothing but the evolution of our dear Texas government and beginner French. No, those aren’t my only classes, but they sure seem to be taking up most of my life expectancy. I’ve skimmed the endless vines of the internet to find helpful methods to efficiently study for midterms. I was constantly waterboarded with nothing more than AI websites trying to do the work for me.
Hey!! There’s no shame in the game if little Meta AI helps you study; at some point, it becomes tiring trying to find actual resources that help you study straight from our actual work. I’ve even resorted to integrating full routines to properly study. The midterm miracle will soon strike me someday as I doom scroll through Google, trying to find the best studying method.
Transitioning from the basic coursework that we were accustomed to integrating for many years can feel overwhelming at times. Yes, we may feel out of place for not being at a certain standard that we expected, but that should never discourage us from trying to improve our capability for academic achievement. As a survivor of my first midterm horror, I will continue to push and hopefully succeed in my next term.