Mostly because they are, as advertised, final.
Finals is the best time of the semester. It's the only time when you can finish an assignment and not turn around to find another ten hanging over you. Finals are relaxing. Doom has pretty much fallen on you, if it's going to, so all you can do is study to the extent you're able (or not) and stay calm and take your exams.
That is the approach I used to study for Dr. Smith's exam. On his tests this semester, he has been coming up with all kinds of stuff that elicits from us the reaction: "Where does this shit come from?" Bearing that in mind, I focused on reviewing my notes (For all the good it'll do…Damn, we sure covered a lot of material this semester!) and not panicking. Besides, the exam is open notes. That hasn't helped in the past, but hope springs eternal.
When I go in to take the exam today, I find Mountain Girl flipping out.
Humility Boy tries to comfort her. "You know all this stuff."
"No, I don't!" she wails.
"You knew it last night," he protests, with futility.
"How did you study for this?" she asks me.
"I just reviewed my notes and practiced not panicking."
"That's it! I didn't practice not panicking!" She grabs Humility Boy's arms and shakes him. The chicken sandwich he is (was) holding falls apart all over the floor. He looks with dismay upon the scattered remnants of his lunch and emits a little glottal-stoppy wail of his own.
"Dude, ten second rule!" some of the other guys call, but Humility Boy has to endure MG's apology first. This involves his head being clutched to her chest. He doesn't seem to mind all that much and is rather cheerful when he reassembles his sandwich after wiping off the individual components on a napkin.
316 words | December 13, 2004 11:31 PM | Ivory tower