Rant & Rave
Rant & Rave
WORDS can't begin to express how millions of college students are feeling now that final exams are finally over, but the one word that probably comes close is "elation." Final lessons from
grueling exam weekFor an entire week, our lives are put on hold as we do our best to remember things from the beginning of the semester that we completely forgot in four months.
Most students choose to study in the library because it houses the fewest distractions. It's only during midterms and finals periods that you have to fight to get the spot that you want in the library.
When you look up from your own books, you can see students trying hard to memorize flash cards, redo homework problems, write out essays, comprehend massive textbooks, reread lecture notes, and, most commonly, stay awake.
The pressure is so intense that sleep is not an option. For each course, everyone has calculated what they need to get on the final to get an "A" for the course. All that is on their minds is how important their performance will be in getting into medical school, law school, or in just getting a job offer next year. The only things we stop to do are to check our e-mail correspondence and eat, and there is no such thing as a home-cooked meal. With time ticking away, fast food is the easy answer.
SOME exams go well and others are quite disappointing. Professors sometimes throw out questions you would never even think of, making you feel like that all-nighter was such a waste.
By the time the last final comes along, everyone is just plain burnt out. All we want to do is get on that plane going home.
Now that I am home, I look back at finals week and think about how ridiculous it is. Why do we allow ourselves so much stress without taking the time to rest? Why do we depend on grades to tell us "this is how smart I am?" An "A" doesn't necessarily mean that I "excel" in a particular course, and failure to get the grade doesn't mean that I wouldn't do a good job applying the material in real life.
The professor that taught my hardest course this semester, intermediate accounting, taught me something much more important than what I need to know when I take the CPA exam. He taught me that it doesn't matter whether or not you get an "A" in his class. What matters, he said, is whether or not you learned anything. "That's what you should care about,' he said, "If I can see that you tried your best, I love you for that."
ISN'T this so true? The whole point of going to school is to learn, not to bring home a good report card. Grades don't reflect other aspects of our character such as dedication and the degree of effort you put into our work. These factors are just as important as intelligence when you are being considered for graduate school or a job.
So, my goal is to remember this lesson when I return to school next semester. I have realized that life is too short to kill yourself for a perfect 4.0 record.
Trisha Shinsato is a 1997 Castle High School graduate
who is attending Creighton University.Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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