Gonna give it my best.
Last night I was feeling good. My Thanksgiving weekend had gone according to plan. I spent a lot of time at the library and even more time at my desk studying, I'd had two great workouts at the gym and I'd even found a little time to do some online Christmas shopping. I felt productive, alert, prepared, and powerful (I've been missing crew, so I've started using the erg machine at the gym -- while my back and shoulders are sore, I'll soon be telling people to check out my "guns").
This morning, I went to class and all those good feelings disappeared when I heard a few of my classmates talking about their outlines. I had what I think is an important realization: the vast majority of my classmates are going to be at least as prepared as me. Gradewise, that means that the goal of the studying I've done so far and the studying I'm planning to do during the next couple of weeks is not to help me get a good grade on the test, it's simply to guarantee me a shot at a good grade. I think our actual grades will be determined by who is thinking and writing the most clearly during the roughly 15 hours that we're actually being tested.
While I'm not feeling as great as I was last night, I am feeling a bit more relaxed. I don't doubt my ability to do the work necessary to learn this material, but I also don't know how all this will play out on the exams. Generally, I'm good at taking tests and I'm good at staying calm under pressure. So, I guess my focus is the same as it was before -- to feel comfortable with the material and be able to explain it coherently. I've just decided to delay putting too much pressure on myself until the actual exams -- that's when it counts.
This morning, I went to class and all those good feelings disappeared when I heard a few of my classmates talking about their outlines. I had what I think is an important realization: the vast majority of my classmates are going to be at least as prepared as me. Gradewise, that means that the goal of the studying I've done so far and the studying I'm planning to do during the next couple of weeks is not to help me get a good grade on the test, it's simply to guarantee me a shot at a good grade. I think our actual grades will be determined by who is thinking and writing the most clearly during the roughly 15 hours that we're actually being tested.
While I'm not feeling as great as I was last night, I am feeling a bit more relaxed. I don't doubt my ability to do the work necessary to learn this material, but I also don't know how all this will play out on the exams. Generally, I'm good at taking tests and I'm good at staying calm under pressure. So, I guess my focus is the same as it was before -- to feel comfortable with the material and be able to explain it coherently. I've just decided to delay putting too much pressure on myself until the actual exams -- that's when it counts.
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