First there was a snowstorm urging University students to hit the slopes of Wintergreen. Then Valentine's Day colored the Grounds pink, red and every shade in between. Last but not least high temperatures caused procrastination, frequent naptimes and lazing around in the sun. In the midst of these distracting events, midterms stealthily crept out to capture the attention of University students.
Third-year College student Yasemin Erseven said she is slowly getting into the midterm mood.
"Time has gone by so fast since we got back to school [from Christmas break] that it really hit me yesterday that I had to start studying," Erseven said. "You think that you have so much time between start of classes and midterms but then bam! And it's almost Spring Break and you have to deal with midterms."
Fourth-year Engineering student Matt Rogers said timing of midterms has not had a big impact on him.
"I didn't really notice midterms being early or late," Rogers said. "As you become a fourth year things get blurry so you don't have a sense of time."
Despite losing his sense of time, Rogers said he does have a specific time preference for taking midterms.
"It's better to have it before Spring Break because then stuff is fresh in your mind," he said. "You are killing brain cells over Spring Break anyway."
Second-year College student Elio Jordan said he agreed it is better to take midterms before Spring Break.
"You will never study over Spring Break," Jordan said.
Jordan also added that midterm schedules differ from student to student.
"Some people have their midterms this week, but I haven't had mine yet," he said. "Mine are very spread out. It really depends on classes. And on your luck. For example I am taking a class with only papers."
On the other hand, some students said their midterm schedules are very much crammed together.
Third-year College student Candice Ng also voiced her concern about the scheduling conflicts of midterms.
"I've always thought about how you can change your finals if you have three in 24 hours and how you can't do that for midterms," she said. "Sometimes with midterms you have a lot of them packed at the same time but you can't petition to change it."
Ng also commented on how it can be very difficult to take midterms.
"Sometimes it is really hard with midterms, you prepare for them, then you take them and then go to class for it," she said. "And when you are done with one, you realize that you are two weeks behind for another class and you can never catch up!"
Although Jordan said he agreed with Ng about midterm scheduling, he said he finds the stress levels are higher during finals.
"I think finals are more stressful than midterms," he said. "It's your last chance to pass. It's your last chance to redeem yourself."
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