With midterms fast approaching at Shepherd University, students are buckling down to prepare or procrastinate. Everyone has their own rituals and bits of advice on the best way to tackle the terror of exams.
“Coffee and no sleep” freshman Leah Capel says is her midterm ritual, sitting with books and papers spread out in front of her in the Ram’s Den for a morning study session with breakfast. “Even though it’s not the final, it makes you quiz yourself, it kind of scares you, are you going to do good enough?” she said.
Librarian assistant Temetrie Encarnacion, a senior, says she can tell a difference in students as midterms approach.
“People get demanding for study rooms and are stressed out, broke, and hungry,” Encarnacion said. Her advice? ”Don’t procrastinate, you prolong the agony.”
Some students like junior Curtis Dillow have been preparing for a while now.
“I already started a week or two ahead, going over the stuff I know I don’t know,” he said. ”You should have already started studying for it or else it’s not going to go well.”
Robert Beachley, another junior gave a more hopeful bit of advice during a break from studying for a science exam “Don’t wait till the last minute, but if you do, it never hurts to go back over the material again,” Beachley said.
If all else fails the advice of senior, Harry McNally may come in handy for the desperate.
“Goat sacrifice.” he said with a grin. “Just make sure to always stand upwind, the smell lingers.”