Midterm Monsters.......
Midterms….ugh…quite possibly worse than finals. After they’re over, there is still more class, more lab work, and no dream of winter break just around the corner. However, there has been one useful tool that I have found to help combat the midterm blues and make this time of the year not as painful as it has the potential to become. Keeping up with the material and forming/finding a study group has helped me in unimaginable ways.
It’s just a straightforward idea of simply getting together to talk about the course material that can do wonders on an exam grade (as I can personally attest). They help to get major concepts straight, and the discussion aspect is the most important. Try to find anyone in your class to meet with, and if that doesn’t work, ask your friend/roommates if they would be willing to be an open ear, and listen to you talk out the material. Act as if you were teaching them the material. My roommates last year knew everything about Geographic Information Systems (GIS) after I had two midterms and studied for a final for ESPM 72 :). This semester they will hear all about population ecology and about how to distinguish one species of tree from another…and because of that (in addition to other study group time) I will do much better on my midterms. While not all study group experiences are the greatest, or all ears willing to listen at all times, just trying out these different studying techniques will definitely get you on your way to conquering the midterm monster.