The Rocket

Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Focus

Media Credit: MCT Campus [Click to enlarge]

Imagine a place where time seems to fly by faster than the speed of light. A place where a human being can survive on two hours of sleep and an energy drink. A place where textbooks and notes become your whole world.

Welcome to finals week.

So maybe finals aren't quite that serious, but with finals week coming up quickly, many students are already buckling down to get those extra study hours.

Sleeping and regular meals are bypassed to allow for extra time to read those last pages of textbooks. Some, although not recommended, may even forget showering. But some students have found a way to balance the studying and might truly steer clear of the finals zone.

Joe Yarzebinski, 18, a freshman physics and pre-engineering major, said that his secret to stress-free success is to break the study sessions down.

"I'll study on average about four to five hours a day," Yarzebinski said. "Chopping your study sessions down to manageable pieces makes them easier to swallow. It also allows your brain to completely absorb the information you've taken in."

Comprehensive finals, finals that take information from the entire semester, are the usual fare for the end of the semester tests.

While most students groan when they hear the word "comprehensive," Yarzebinski can see the value in them.

"It really depends on the type of class," Yarzebinski said. "For example, my Java class has been comprehensive since day one."

Elyssa McLean, 20, a sophomore English major, said that sometimes, comprehensive finals are applicable.

"In certain subjects, like math or science, a comprehensive final would make more sense," McLean said. "Most of the things you learn in those classes build on each other so it just fits."

Sometimes, a student may have a class that doesn't have a traditional final. Instead, final projects or papers might be utilized to measure the student's final grade.

McLean said she prefers projects over traditional tests.

"I'm taking the video production class and we're doing a final project instead of a written final," McLean said. "I really do like doing finals this way."

Continued...

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