In the midst of midterms

Written by Savannah Karmen-Tuohy
Thursday, 26 January 2012 01:00

With the first snow of the season and the end of a two-week break for the holidays, everyone returns to school reinvigorated and ready to get back to classes. Before students can settle into the regular routine, though, BAM! We are faced with midterm exams.

Inconveniently situated two weeks after Winter Break because of Greenwich Academy’s semester schedule, midterms loom long before we return to school, and students ask themselves: Should I start studying over break? Will I forget everything? Do I know anything to begin with?

Yes, of course we know much more than we think, and midterms are a perfect way to test that knowledge. Consisting of four full days of examinations, with two exam slots a day, each two hours long, midterms are one of the more memorable weeks of the year. But the preparation for this week long ordeal begins the weekend before, with the infamous Exam Study Weekend.

The three-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is converted from the anticipated extra day off school into a frenzied attempt to study absolutely everything, for every class, all at once. Since everyone’s calendars are completely empty the weekend before exams, the library becomes the place to catch up with friends, while discussing “study hints and review packets,” transforming the building from a quiet, sparsely populated study space into the location of the social event of the weekend.

While few empty spots may be seen in the library, a certain mix of students distinctly populates each section. Juniors and seniors, intent on using every possible minute of their study time, often occupy the individual carrels on the upper level of the periodical room. The lower tables and couches accommodate those underclassmen who naively believe they might actually get something done in their study groups. Dispersed throughout the library is a good percentage of the GA-Brunswick high school population, whether they are students tucked between the shelves, desperately trying to learn the sequence of rulers in monarchial France for AP Euro, or friends in study rooms talking about the plot of their English novels, tracing the paths of Romeo and Juliet in comparison to the week’s newest couple.

When Tuesday rolls around, the midterms begin. Tuesday entails both a morning and afternoon exam for most, while the other days often just contain one exam. The easy schedule of the week — only two hours of “school” each day — seems ideal for some, a nightmare for others. Those who are, if it is possible to be, advocates of the week of midterms argue that two hours of hard work a day is the perfect amount. They relish the freedom of leaving campus at 11 o’clock, eating lunch at their own homes, and the lack of practices for most sports teams. Others, those who cannot be bought by the shorter hours spent on campus, argue that midterms entail far more work than the two-hour exam slot. Griping over the full weekend of studying and the long nights of cramming pre-morning exams, some students would gladly elongate the regular school day or give up days of their summer in exchange for the elimination of these dreaded exams.

Regardless of where students stand on midterms, we all take them. This year’s exams are slightly bittersweet for me, though, as they are the last exams I will ever take at Greenwich Academy. Though I can’t say I will miss the endless study sessions and the fear that my alarm clock will malfunction, these midterms represent one more milestone during my last year at GA. Though not as heart warming as Ingathering or exciting as the first day of school, midterm exams are an indelible part of the GA experience. Taking my math exam in the gym with every other GA student, listening to the clatter of dropped calculators, remains one of the less conventional memories of my high school career, yet one that will always remind me of GA.

Savannah Karmen-Tuohy is a senior from Greenwich at Greenwich Academy.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites