It is crunch time Cal State Long Beach, and we have just one more week until we get a long deserved winter break.
Finals week has been the bane of every students’ existence since first stepping foot on a college campus. As much as we try to prepare the weekend before, we never seem to be ready once the time comes.
We sit down at our desk knowing full well it all comes down to this test. Many of us are in a situation where we are on the cusp of a grade and this final can either jettison us forward or drag us below the mark.
Finals are frustrating. In some classes, the finals seems forced. It feels like professors must make an extremely hard test just because they need to have one.
In most cases, we study so hard for a test, only to have all the information float out of our heads a week later.
What is the point of testing us on all this crap if we are not going to remember it anyway?
In some classes, there is a final project, essay and test that need to be completed in the last week.
To this, we say make up your mind. Making all this due the last week of class along with whatever else we have makes our heads explode.
Then there are the two worst words that can ever be mentioned in the English language: Comprehensive final. Nothing is worse than having to look through your scribbled notes from September just so you can try and jog your memory with material that you learned three months ago. Fortunately, not too many professors subject their students to this sort of medieval torture; however, there is always a good chance students will come across one at some point in their college career.
It is probably living in some far off fantasy world, but would it not be a great idea if we had a dead week before finals? Instead of introducing any new material or making projects or essays due, all classes are just composed of review for the next week’s final.
To find enough time to study for the big test, some students end up ditching some of their last classes just to study for the final that is coming down the pipeline.
So, why not consider having a review-only week? Attendance should be mandatory so students do not ditch for the wrong reasons, but having a chance to get our last questions in and spending class time towards studying seems very productive.
University of California, Berkeley has a dead week called Reading, Review and Recitation Week. It has been around for years and has helped its students study for finals and wrap up any essays or projects they have left for the year. Maybe CSULB should look into creating the same tradition for our campus.