Mid-Quarter Meditations

I have something to confess: I actually have zero midterms this quarter.  I’m taking three classes: the first revolves around writing two major papers, the second is a project-based ICS class, and the third is Intro to Linguistics, in which we had our first quiz of the quarter during Week 4.  I did have some major deadlines (including my first major paper of the quarter and an ICS project) around the time my friends started complaining about their midterms, so I felt included in the mid-quarter stress; however, I don’t think I’ve had the true “UCI Midterm Experience” yet.

Due to this apparently unique experience, I have found myself having more “homework sessions” than “study sessions” at this point in the quarter.  As a commuter, I’ve found myself spending most of my time on campus either in class or in the library.  I’ve done productive work in both the Langson Library and Science Library and found some spots I like at both.  In the Langson Library, I usually stay on the ground floor, sitting in those wooden cubicles by the floor-to-ceiling length windows.  I like the location of those desks, as there usually aren’t many people passing by, so I can have a reminder of the outside world without feeling like an animal at the zoo.  Also, the wooden walls that cage in the desk provide an illusion of privacy, and I feel comfortable visibly expressing any frustration or confusion induced by my work.

As nice as those cubicles are, I’ve found myself at my most productive on the second floor of the Science Library – the colorful chairs and high ceiling make it feel more like an IKEA showroom than a library, and something about being in that artificial environment makes me want to do work.  Not being in a cubicle also reduces my desire to procrastinate, as I know my less than productive YouTube endeavors can be seen by any passerby’s searching for seating.  I also usually go relatively early in the morning (around 9am), so it’s quiet enough where I can put my AirPods in and just grind through my to-do list for the day.  It always feels nice to get things done early and know that you have a full day ahead of you still.

I’ve been enjoying this quarter a lot, not just because of the fact that I’ve had no midterms, but because everything I’m studying interests me.  Since I find the things I’m doing interesting and mentally stimulating, not even the frustration of debugging, the stress of writing, and the initial confusion of trying to wrap my head around entirely new concepts can dissuade me.  I can only hope that I’ll have a similarly pleasant combination of classes next quarter, so that my first midterm experience doesn’t come with too much stress.