Post-Final Ramblings  

Posted by inkstainedhands in ,

I took my last final of the eleventh grade today, and I feel so relieved that it is over. I still have a math test (not a final), a Touro English Placement exam, and the Math B Regent (in that order), but for today and Shabbat I can just relax.

I have been getting, on average, five hours of sleep a night since finals started. One night, I got as little as three and a half hours. Surprisingly, I have not had any coffee (besides for, well, some small interesting drink with coffee in it). I used to drink at least a cup of coffee every single day before going to school, just to keep myself awake, and I basically functioned on that. But I wanted to be less dependant on it, so I slowly started the switch to green tea, and that is what I have been drinking these past few months. Despite all the sleep deprivation, I was completely awake every day and was able to focus on studying and on taking the finals. Today, however, it has all finally caught up to me: I am exhausted. I could barely keep my eyes from closing during today's final, and the only reason I am sitting here and typing this post as opposed to going to sleep is that I do not usually fall asleep during the daytime unless I am sick. If my mother ever sees me sleeping during the day, she gets worried and feels my forehead. That's how it is.

There are a few good outcomes from all this studying though.
A) I knew the material and hopefully did well on the tests.
B) Some of the finals were actually very interesting to study for, and I enjoyed it.
C) When studying takes up most of your time, eating gets less time, so I lost a little bit of weight. Boredom, on the other hand, leads to scavenging for food.
D) When I did eat, it was mostly healthy. I did not have much time to find stuff for myself, so my mother kindly gave me food while I was studying. Since it is my mom we're talking about, the food was all healthy. I think I ate more fruits this week than I have in the past few months.
E) I can now appreciate the summer and the opportunities for relaxation more.

On a completely different note -- I have a little box with quotes of the day on my Google homepage, and I found this little gem today:

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 12, 2009 at Friday, June 12, 2009 and is filed under , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

11 comments

Man, I'm so jealus of you girls; you take college placement exams in 11th grade, and then you'll take Seminary courses and online courses at the same time, and'll be finished with grad school before I finish college! ..oh well..

I don't know why you put so much into studying by the way; especially you who probably know what's going on in class and do homework. Studying for you should only be a couple of hourse before the test. ..when I study, I'm learning it for the first time!

June 12, 2009 at 2:27 PM

How many more years do you have until you finish college?

We're taking the placement exams so we can get credit for some courses in 12th grade. I think we're allowed to apply for up to 24 credits. I am not taking calculus next year though, so I did not take the math placement exam.

I don't plan on taking online courses. After high school, I do want to try to balance college and seminary classes in Brooklyn though...

The ironic thing is that the final I spent 10 hours studying for was also the class I spent about 80 hours doing homework for in the past 8 months. (And I am not exaggerating with that number.) So I knew pretty well what was going on there, but I still had to study. And I didn't even end up knowing everything on the test. Knowing what's going on doesn't necessary equal remembering every term mentioned in class.

June 12, 2009 at 4:03 PM

"How many more years do you have until you finish college?"- A year. I was eggagerating.

"We're taking the placement exams so we can get credit for some courses in 12th grade."- Man, we never got college credits in my high school. I barely even knew what college was, I was so naive. I went to a 'yeshivish' high school, so..

"..the final I spent 10 hours studying for was also the class I spent about 80 hours doing homework for"- That's a waste of time 'Товарищ', you would retain most of the stuff you read if you (like me) did all your studying right before the final.

June 12, 2009 at 4:40 PM

I didn't consider it a waste of time... It was worth it, and I knew and appreciated the material more as a result of the effort I put in.

This is only one class though. For most of the other classes, I just study the night before the test. The problem though is that during finals I usually have about two tests per day. Studying for two finals in one night is pretty difficult, so you need to be familiar with the material already.

It's also easier to study for the final if you have some tests in that subject between official examination periods. Some teachers give a few tests ever semester, while others give tests only during finals and midterms, which makes it a bit more difficult to study. As I was studying for today's final, I was wondering why I had to study the halachot of Purim, Pesach, and Sfirat HaOmer in the middle of June.

June 12, 2009 at 5:00 PM

Haha.

My personal feeling has always been that the Western system of education is a bit faulty, since the subject matter is usually studied just to pass the class and get a good mark, but not for it's own sake. There's too much rigitity and specialization. In the past people had understandings in many different fields. Today people just learn one main thing, in very academic and not hands-on environment.

...this is a response to your saying that you "appreciated" the material you studied..

June 12, 2009 at 5:16 PM

Yes, most people do study just to pass. If a teacher wants to know whether her students are truly interested in what she's teaching, all she has to do is say, "What I will say today in class is not on the test." Once those words are uttered, most girls close their notebooks, put down their pens, and space out. And meanwhile, I am sitting there and scribbling away (if it's something that interests me).

The school does its job in teaching the material to the students, and it is up to the students whether they actually want to learn it and keep it with them for life or not.

My opinion is that the more knowledge you have on a greater variety of subjects the better it is.

June 12, 2009 at 5:23 PM

No doubt girl, knowledge is power.

June 12, 2009 at 6:18 PM

If only others thought so too.

June 12, 2009 at 6:36 PM

"Once those words are uttered, most girls close their notebooks, put down their pens, and space out."

I was the most awake those days, because none of the learning had strings attatched to it. But I didn't take notes. I would retain the information better than when I knew I'd be tested.

It wasn't like "You must memorize every name in the book, and that will determine how smart you are..."

Anyway, good luck on regents. I assume you're going to be studying for those now! :)

June 14, 2009 at 12:57 PM

Thanks! :] I'm going to be focusing on the dreaded math now. I have both a test and a Regent. Other than that, all I have is a Touro English placement exam and I am done! I can't wait for the summer. I have forgotten what it's like to spend a whole day doing whatever I want and writing as much as I want.

June 14, 2009 at 6:01 PM

Yeah, guys' schools don't offer anything for college. I think Alter's school didn't even want to give him a transcript until he promised to go to beis hamedresh for a year.

June 15, 2009 at 2:12 PM

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