Hello Fellow Freshmen and Freshmen Potentials,
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Whether you're Irish or not (like myself), I hope you enjoy your day and don't get too wild. It's only Monday, after all.
If you'd like to read some words about how to tackle your Freshman Year at Macaulay at Hunter, check out my first two blog posts with conveniently similar titles.
If not, or if you're a beautiful soul who's already read these, let's dive into how to tackle midterms.
Midterms are the less severe, younger brother of Satan, who's more commonly referred to as Finals. While finals are much more daunting, they don't make their unwanted appearance until the end of the semester. Midterms, however, wheel around the corner seemingly minutes after you've begun the semester. This, compiled with the fact that many, if not all of your professors schedule your midterms in the same week begun they secretly plot against you, can seem incredibly overwhelming.
Have no fear.
For starters, use those breaks in your schedule to your advantage. As opposed to using them to do the assignment due for the class you have next, do that assignment the day before or even (gasp) a few days before and use your breaks to study for your midterms. It's tempting to use your "free time" the night before class to hang out with your friends or Netflix binge if you have a three hour break between classes to do your assignment, but when it comes to Midterm Week(s), put on your Big Boy/Girl/Young Adult Pants. Actually do your assignments before the day that they're due and use those seemingly massive breaks in your schedule to study. Also, because you'll be in school, it's much harder to become distracted because your bed is out of reach and you're already in the school mindset.
Second, isolate yourself. While I wouldn't recommend this in many other situations, Midterm and Finals Week are exceptions. There are quiet and silent study floors in the library, sitting areas here and there near the escalators on each floor, and if it's nice out-- a bench in Central Park. Try your hardest to ignore your phone and put your earbuds in if you're in a crowded place. Whether or not you're listening to music, they do help block out sound. Focus on what has to be studied and minimize/eliminate any distractions.
Third, give yourself breaks. The best way to study (and this is backed up) is to give yourself a 10-15 minute break after each hour of studying. Studying for hours straight may feel like you're absorbing a bunch of information, but a lot of it won't stick. Give yourself breaks, even if you feel like you don't need it. In the long run, you'll remember more this way.
Lastly, and most importantly, manage your time. Use those breaks between classes, but don't rely solely on them. Something may come up one day, like a friend needing help putting up flyers or running over to you desperately seeking an ear to vent to or some other time-suck you feel obligated to agree to so you don't feel like a bad person. Bottom line: use the breaks, but not just the breaks. Study while you're home and possibly on the train, when you're not smashed up against three other people. Do not, do not, do not cram. As someone who has done it time and time again, it's an incredibly stressful process that never leads to a perfect score. A situation will always pop up where your schedule is tight, but often times that's because we were listening to music or watching movies for hours, or going out when we knew we should have been studying. Put your work first, and it will pay off.
I wish you all the best of luck on your midterms! And if you don't get the grade you want, it's not the end of the world. Use that for motivation to do better on the next test.
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