Are you in a midterm slump?
It's the fourth week of October and I spent all of yesterday in a complete fog.
I have no idea how I got from one class to the next or from home to school or back. Here at Fanshawe that means its midterm time and I'm experiencing the dreaded Midterm Slump! We're now looking at less than eight weeks of school until this term is finished.
Will we make it?
When school started in September, students were bubbling over with excitement. Everyone had new books, new supplies, new laptops and every girl seemed to have a new scarf to match. Everyone was determined and committed, maybe even excited, to excel in their courses. Back-to-school energy was definitely pumping through the school.
People used to show up to class five minutes early.
People used to labour over their notes in class, carefully organizing the teacher's words into bulleted topics and definitions.
People used to jot down assignment deadlines and test dates in their handy planners and highlight them according to colour-coordinated systems.
People used to come prepared with notebooks and textbooks, but as midterms come to an end though, you can see that things have begun to change.
Students are now slipping into their seats five-to-10 minutes after class has started. Most people just download lecture slides from FanshaweOnline (FOL) instead of taking notes. Students are showing up to class with little more than a coffee and an iPod. The deadlines for assignments and tests are upon us and people seem completely unprepared!
Last week a classmate of mine wandered into our midterm exam completely oblivious to the fact that we were writing a test. She somehow missed the 45 hot pink Scantron sheets passed around the room and simply sat down waiting for class to begin.
In another class, 12 people gathered their things and left after 45 minutes because they found the lesson boring and pointless. What is going on here? Grades are being uploaded online and students are getting their first glimpse of how they are performing academically; and in some cases it's not pretty.
It's true that the first few weeks of school are a bit of a tease. The first class is usually spent introducing you to the teacher and your classmates. You're given deadlines and test dates that are weeks away. You spend those first weeks finding a rhythm to your day; establishing the best study nooks, finding the cleanest washrooms, sampling the Oasis menu and figuring out the most efficient route to each class. When midterms begin to creep up on you it's like a slap in the face! Suddenly it seems like there's something due everyday. Each night is spent either cramming for a test or scrambling to complete an essay.
This is college life.
This is the time when students find themselves needing to reprioritize their lives and try to put school first. That's easier said than done. Many students have to work part time jobs to support themselves. Some students have children at home who need to be taken care of before even thinking about schoolwork. This is also the time of year when many students begin to get sick, since their eating habits tend to be poor and they're not getting enough sleep they are more susceptible to catching a cold or the flu. It even becomes difficult to find time to grab dinner or a movie with friends. It's like your life goes into a lockdown.
If school is starting to require this much dedication and effort, then why do so many students seem like they're ready to give up?
The truth is, we're all exhausted. Students are cramming so much into their minds in the first month of school that their body becomes completely overwhelmed.
What can be done to keep you from straying off course and falling into the Midterm Slump? Here are a few tips to help you to stay focused, committed and hopefully awake during your classes each day.
Always be prepared:
Grab a notebook, a pencil and your textbook on your way to class; you'll feel and look more prepared even if you know you're not.
Read your textbook:
Yes, in a perfect world, FOL PowerPoint slides would provide you with everything you needed to get an ‘A', but if it was that easy all of your courses would be online. There's a reason you spent $100.00 on that book; it's time you took the plastic off.
Eat, eat, eat:
Your body needs food for energy, but the more crap you eat the crappier you'll feel. Bring an apple to school everyday, it's a fantastic 2:00pm snack, I promise you.
For the love of zeus: SLEEP!!
Your body and brain need plenty of rest; you're not going to retain any information if you fall asleep in class.
Gang up on each other:
Grab two or three of your zombie friends and shake each other up! Study groups can really help motivate you to, well, study. It's not rocket science. Grab some snacks and help each other come up with goofy or dirty acronyms for remembering complicated theories. It works!
If this fails to wake you from your slump or if you have fallen significantly behind in some of your classes you may want to look into peer tutoring for some additional help. Peer tutoring is available for full time students, at a cost of $15 for five one-hour sessions. You can find out more information by visiting the Student Success Centre in room F2010 or by calling 519-452-4282.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
I have no idea how I got from one class to the next or from home to school or back. Here at Fanshawe that means its midterm time and I'm experiencing the dreaded Midterm Slump! We're now looking at less than eight weeks of school until this term is finished.
Will we make it?
When school started in September, students were bubbling over with excitement. Everyone had new books, new supplies, new laptops and every girl seemed to have a new scarf to match. Everyone was determined and committed, maybe even excited, to excel in their courses. Back-to-school energy was definitely pumping through the school.
People used to show up to class five minutes early.
People used to labour over their notes in class, carefully organizing the teacher's words into bulleted topics and definitions.
People used to jot down assignment deadlines and test dates in their handy planners and highlight them according to colour-coordinated systems.
People used to come prepared with notebooks and textbooks, but as midterms come to an end though, you can see that things have begun to change.
Students are now slipping into their seats five-to-10 minutes after class has started. Most people just download lecture slides from FanshaweOnline (FOL) instead of taking notes. Students are showing up to class with little more than a coffee and an iPod. The deadlines for assignments and tests are upon us and people seem completely unprepared!
Last week a classmate of mine wandered into our midterm exam completely oblivious to the fact that we were writing a test. She somehow missed the 45 hot pink Scantron sheets passed around the room and simply sat down waiting for class to begin.
In another class, 12 people gathered their things and left after 45 minutes because they found the lesson boring and pointless. What is going on here? Grades are being uploaded online and students are getting their first glimpse of how they are performing academically; and in some cases it's not pretty.
It's true that the first few weeks of school are a bit of a tease. The first class is usually spent introducing you to the teacher and your classmates. You're given deadlines and test dates that are weeks away. You spend those first weeks finding a rhythm to your day; establishing the best study nooks, finding the cleanest washrooms, sampling the Oasis menu and figuring out the most efficient route to each class. When midterms begin to creep up on you it's like a slap in the face! Suddenly it seems like there's something due everyday. Each night is spent either cramming for a test or scrambling to complete an essay.
This is college life.
This is the time when students find themselves needing to reprioritize their lives and try to put school first. That's easier said than done. Many students have to work part time jobs to support themselves. Some students have children at home who need to be taken care of before even thinking about schoolwork. This is also the time of year when many students begin to get sick, since their eating habits tend to be poor and they're not getting enough sleep they are more susceptible to catching a cold or the flu. It even becomes difficult to find time to grab dinner or a movie with friends. It's like your life goes into a lockdown.
If school is starting to require this much dedication and effort, then why do so many students seem like they're ready to give up?
The truth is, we're all exhausted. Students are cramming so much into their minds in the first month of school that their body becomes completely overwhelmed.
What can be done to keep you from straying off course and falling into the Midterm Slump? Here are a few tips to help you to stay focused, committed and hopefully awake during your classes each day.
Always be prepared:
Grab a notebook, a pencil and your textbook on your way to class; you'll feel and look more prepared even if you know you're not.
Read your textbook:
Yes, in a perfect world, FOL PowerPoint slides would provide you with everything you needed to get an ‘A', but if it was that easy all of your courses would be online. There's a reason you spent $100.00 on that book; it's time you took the plastic off.
Eat, eat, eat:
Your body needs food for energy, but the more crap you eat the crappier you'll feel. Bring an apple to school everyday, it's a fantastic 2:00pm snack, I promise you.
For the love of zeus: SLEEP!!
Your body and brain need plenty of rest; you're not going to retain any information if you fall asleep in class.
Gang up on each other:
Grab two or three of your zombie friends and shake each other up! Study groups can really help motivate you to, well, study. It's not rocket science. Grab some snacks and help each other come up with goofy or dirty acronyms for remembering complicated theories. It works!
If this fails to wake you from your slump or if you have fallen significantly behind in some of your classes you may want to look into peer tutoring for some additional help. Peer tutoring is available for full time students, at a cost of $15 for five one-hour sessions. You can find out more information by visiting the Student Success Centre in room F2010 or by calling 519-452-4282.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
