It’s the week of my psych midterm and I have watched NONE of the lecture videos. As a person who is obsessed with staying ahead of the game, this was my first time being in such a situation. It’s funny because everytime my friend–who is one of the biggest procrastinators I know–gets in this situation, I always give her a hard time for it. Of course, I let her know about my predicament. Oh the irony!
Before you call me out on being a second-class pupil, let me explain how I got here and give me a chance to defend myself. In my senior year of high school I took AP psychology, so I assumed that I would be able to get by just reading the book. I had a really great psych teacher so I still remember a lot of the material; you’ll find out if this is true or not soon! My plan was to skim the book and take notes. In addition to the material being review for me, the midterm was going to be open-book. This was gonna be a cinch I thought! One week, two weeks, three weeks, and finally four weeks pass by as I ignore the lectures being posted to the class files in Canvas.
That brings us to the week of the psych midterm. A sense of dread falls over me as I review the homework I’ve done so far. “Maybe I know and remember less about psychology than I think,” I thought to myself. I sit frozen in front of my laptop wondering if it would be worth it or not to watch four weeks worth of lectures within the span of a couple days while reviewing for the midterm. Gulp.
Eventually my neurosis took over and I found myself watching all nine lecture videos at double speed, frantically typing into my google doc what I could comprehend. Luckily, these lecture videos never exceeded more than 45 minutes. I was able to get through them speedy quick with the handy 2x speed button. I highly do not recommend this.
And at last, it was time for me to take the midterm. With my reading and lecture notes printed out and by my side, I dove headfirst into the exam. Surely I could pass now that I had done everything I was supposed to?
Pass I did, with flying colors too! Somehow I managed to ace the exam despite my lack of motivation and frantic catch-up. Perhaps I did retain that psych knowledge from high school! Or maybe it was the lectures that filled in the gaps of my knowledge. Could it have possibly been a combination of both? We’ll never know…
I guess the moral of the story is just to stay caught up with the class as it is not worth the pre-exam mental breakdowns. This is common sense but being a college student means lacking common sense when you most need it. I know I definitely won’t be making that same mistake twice! Best of luck in your future exams!
Your friend,
Vivian