As November 8 creeps closer, collective anxiety about the future of our nation is at an all-time high. According to a recent Boston Globe poll, eighty percent of voters are embarrassed by the state of the presidential race. So too would it seem to be the case at Harvard; not about the UC election (who’s running, anyway?), but midterm season–which, if we’re being honest, starts the third week of the semester and doesn’t stop until finals. The feelings that come with all-nighters, unexpected exam questions and sloppy papers are pretty similar to the general dread sweeping the United States with each breaking news story on the candidates. Both issues (seem to) put our postgraduate lives at stake– and Twitter captures our thoughts about both issues with snarky accuracy.
1. Your Gen-Ed essay looks a lot like this two hours before it’s due:
2. Sometimes your TF says you’ll be “fine” if you attend lecture and do the readings. Then you show up to the exam–and it’s ten short answer questions and three essays to be completed in fifty minutes.
“Liars” and “crooks” aren’t limited to the debate stage, apparently.
3. We know we need to prepare for midterms, but we don’t always know how. So we think on the spot at test-time.
If my handwriting is purposely illegible by the time I run out of things to say on this essay question, the TF can’t possibly tell whether my answer is right or wrong…
4. Anyone taking Orgo* thinks the same thing every night before an exam:
*And Ec10, and CS50, and…basically any class at Harvard with an exam component.
5. This same principle applies for choosing classes that have “midterms” post-Thanksgiving:
Shoutout to all the kids taking five classes and willingly prolonging their semesters.
6. But in class and out in the real world, there’s one piece of advice we can all agree on regardless of political party (or concentration):