Oh, finals period, my beloathed. Even though we all look forward to the end of a (likely stressful) semester, no one is excited about finals. The tension of not knowing what your grade is, calculating what you need on an exam to end with a C, then finding out you need to get 145% on the final… good times, certainly. However, no final is the same. No class is the same. Some finals are child’s play, some are horror movies. That is no different with me. For the entire semester, I’ve been chasing a way to properly rank my classes, and finally I’ve found it. Here it is: my classes ranked on how scared I was for their finals, from least to most scared.
4- SOCI-234: Social Problems
As a STEM major, I am vehemently against writing papers. Which is ironic considering I am literally a HerCampus writer. The problem with writing papers is that I have no freedom to write about whatever I want—I need to follow a prompt to a T or else it’s all over. I like having my creative freedom! I would much rather take an exam. Give me a formula and some numbers; I’ll figure it out.
With that being said, I was not particularly concerned about my Social Problems final, given that I had a whole week to complete the paper. Of course, that doesn’t mean I didn’t work hard and give it my all. It was just not an exam I needed to memorize a bunch of science stuff for. With plenty of time, dedication, and resources to write a high quality product, I would do well. Therefore, this assignment was last on my ranking.
3- NEURO-246: Cognitive Neuroscience
I absolutely loved this class. I am genuinely very passionate about neuroscience and how the biology of our brain works to make us human, and this is literally the entire class. I loved learning about our neural mechanisms and what that says about behavior. Even though there was a lot of content and terminology, I loved studying for this class. Besides, it all comes to me naturally due to my genuine interest in the subject.
However, let’s not kid ourselves! This is still a closed-book, cumulative exam! I needed to review HARD! THE WHOLE CLASS! Therefore, I was a bit scared. Just a bit though. Confidence is key.
2- CHEM-202: Organic Chemistry
Aren’t y’all surprised this isn’t number 1? Trust me, I was too. However, ever since I stopped trying to pretend I was doing okay in the class and didn’t need help, I actually improved dramatically (I even wrote an article about coming to that realization, go check it out ;) #notsponsored). Turns out that the resources everyone uses and says are helpful are actually helpful! Who would’ve known?
I managed to grow my understanding of chemistry as the semester goes, and I was very dedicated to reviewing the course content. I already reviewed up to week 9 of content, and starting early is often key. I feel like I knew what I was doing as opposed to just writing random arrows and atoms on paper. Plus, we get a cheat sheet! I knew that if I continue working hard, success is bound to come. However, it is Organic Chemistry, and I couldn’t mess around; I must keep my guard up. Therefore, I was scared of this one!
1- BIOL-210: Molecular Genetics
Apparently, the human genome—containing the equivalent of over three gigabytes of computer storage space—is complicated! At the beginning of the semester, I didn’t think this would be my scariest final, but it really was! Maybe a reason for this is because I didn’t start reviewing early, and it’s 30% of our grade…
The content in the class was extremely interesting and the professors were wonderful, always making sure we understood the content before moving along and applying class concepts to real-life situations. But oh boy, it was a lot. A LOT. A LOT. Plus, molecular genetics is a field teeming with jargon that can get complicated fast. If I’m being honest, I didn’t review it yet because I was scared of this class, which may sound counterproductive, but you try arguing with my brain. Therefore, BIOL-210—in all its pioneering glory—gets the first place in which final I was most scared for! Woohoo! Congratulations!
Agh, who am I kidding? I was scared for them all! Hold up, sorry about that, I put my confident mask back on…