It doesn’t matter where in the world you are... finals week sucks. I’ve been a good student this semester—went to classes, took notes, participated in class—much more than I have in the past and I still feel overwhelmed. I don’t know why I thought classes or even grading would be easier over here, maybe because everything else is so laid back and chill. My finals are worth more here than at the U (50%, 40%, and 50%) which makes them a little more significant and intimidating. I don’t know if I mentioned the grading system here before... its HD, D, P, C, F instead of A ,B, C, D, F and fail only starts at 50% here instead of 60%. This sounds great, you only need 50% to pass... except its 10 times harder to make the mark.
Take for instance, my presentation in Strategic Management, I thought I did reasonably well, maybe not the best in class but above average. I got a 30... out of 50! I found out one American got a 35, but everyone else was between 30 and 32. I’m nearly positive they don’t curve grades here either. This means my assumed GPA boost may not turn out to be one at all. Now if I’ve learned anything this semester, it’s that life is about so much more than classroom instruction and a GPA... and I guess I kind of knew that before, but it’s still frustrating. I don’t even want to argue with the teacher because I’m pretty sure his response will be “you should have prepared more and followed the rubric.” This is the same teacher that gave us the impossible midterm. In my opinion, if you’re going to grade ridiculously hard, you should probably prepare students for the material. His lectures are like story time with lots of real life examples, but nothing relating to what he actually tests on or expects from presentations. I’m a little scared to get our group report back.
Nothing I can do about it now... except study harder for the test, except I don’t know what its going to include. I made it to the beach for 20 minutes on Sunday before it started raining. Monday was overcast and eventually it thunderstormed so no good beach weather there either, maybe that’s for the best. I just have to keep looking forward to my Melbourne trip. My last weekend in Manly/Sydney wasn’t all that crazy, but it was relaxing and enjoyable. It’s weird to think about how little time I have left here. Trying not to focus on it, but the date, finals, and Christmas decorations are all screaming at me. Also, I changed my linen for the last time today. Weird.
Sorry for my rambling, I needed to let my finals frustration out. My week is full of flashcards and jamming to Brittney Spears, Pink, and Lady GaGa. Never thought I’d say that sentence in my life. Its supposed to be nice out today, my plan is beaching 9-5 with my notecards. Okay maybe not actually 9-5, but a good long while. Tonight PC is taking a group into the city to film more end of term video with the city Christmas lights and then its my last Jugs night at Shark Bar. I only started going half way through the term, but Tuesday night has been a great midweek social break for everyone at college. Oh yeah, last night we had pancakes and REAL coffee as a finals study break. SO good. Its been so nice hanging out with people watching movies and just talking this past week. I'm really going to miss some people here. Anyway, I should probably get on to the whole studying thing again. Hope everyone else that is studying right now is having better luck than I am... Happy Finals Week!
See you all in 11 days...
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1 comment:
dude, you're lucky :) you have a finals week. i have finals WEEKS. lovely grad school, eh? :) it's been fun reading about your exciting term! your tan should last juuust through the new year, right? :) can't wait to hear more when i finally see you...eventually. next summer, i guess! good luck and have fun the rest of your time there :)
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