Midterms and Parents (By: Kolin Kraning)

Midterms. The sound of the word makes every college kid shudder.
Well….except for myself, that is.

While everyone has been stressing out and wishing this week would simply end, I have had an exceptionally easy week of school. I only had one midterm, and it was for my Freshmen Orientation class; it wasn't very difficult at all. It seems like Focus has been one of the most laborious courses on my schedule, not by measure of its difficulty, but by the amount of small assignments given to us.

Now a note to prospective freshman: don’t think that just because Focus gives out assignments every week that it is a hard class, or a boring one; it really is not. As a matter of fact, it has been a huge help in adjusting to college life and academics, and surprisingly it's REALLY FUN... The truth is that college is entirely different than high school.

While midterms attack people all over CBU, you can literally see the anxiety in people’s eyes and through their facial expressions. It really makes me sad to see so many tired, stressed, and frustrated students walking around campus repeating test answers to themselves. I feel like I am the only person who is not worried about a test in some class, or a project that is due by Friday. I’m going to be honest, it is a REALLY nice feeling, but I almost feel guilty.

Not only do I feel bad for not having a midterm, but now I have to see these students putting so much time and effort into preparation (while I play Xbox, sit on my computer, and complain about not having any clean clothes) for a test they do not think they will pass.

It is hard to think of ways to encourage so many people when everyone is so morose. I really don't know what to do. I suppose my only hope is the weekend; perhaps when Friday comes the tension will ease. I sure hope so because all of this stress is becoming unbearable!!!

Anyway, on a different note...

It turns out that I miss my parents for more than home cooked meals and spending money. I never would have thought it, but I actually miss having my parents to tell me to focus on my homework. It seems that I always put off my homework until the last second, and it is starting to catch up to me!

There are many differences between high school and college. For instance, no longer are they called "teachers", in college we call them “professors”. They assign homework at the end of class, some of my teachers never even talk about homework in class! It is entirely up to the student to check the syllabus (a single paper with every assignment of the semester outlined for reference) to see when the next assignment is due. If you never look at your syllabus, then you just might fail the class!

I kind of also wish that my parents were here to put me to bed at a decent hour of the night. Yeah I know that sounds lame, but when you have an 8am class it's not very wise to stay up until 2am. I just wish that someone would just say “Kolin, this is not wise, you do not need to sit in the lobby talking about monkeys and vitamins for three hours, you need to go to sleep!”

But no, there is no one to send me off to bed, and as a result, I am tired.

So tired, in fact, that I am going to go take a nap, right now.

I wish all of my friends luck on their midterms…

Wish me luck on my nap =]

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