The never-ending stress of midterms

Why assignments being bombarded on students is the worst

Madison Diemert
News Editor

Midterms are upon us poor, hungry college students as we reach the month of March. 

Midterms are probably the most stressful thing next to making sure your rent is paid on time or that you’ve actually been eating some vegetables this week. You go through the first two months of the semester with projects, papers and maybe a few quizzes, and then you’re on a nice long spring break. Then BAM! You’ve got three exams to study for, a presentation, and a 10-page paper, all due within two weeks of each other. 

That’s a lot of work for one person to do all on their own. Then add all the activities you’re in- writing for the newspaper, taking photos for the photography club, fundraising for your organization, whatever. That just adds a whole boat load of stuff that you have to balance, and that can be so stressful. And if you’ve also got a job… 

When you’ve got all this stuff going on, there can seem like there’s little to no time to relax. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve actually relaxed since winter break. 

Midterms are no doubt important, but there has to be some sort of leniency when it comes to them. Professors load way too much onto students all at once, trying to get their exams and papers done as soon as possible when moving onto the next topic. In my opinion, this really isn’t good for students, nor does it help our scores. 

Imagine having two huge exams within a day of each other, four short stories to edit, two response papers to finish and a presentation to prep for. All within the same week. Honestly if you’re a student, you probably don’t even have to imagine it, but still. It’s absolute horror. 

Now if you have all this junk on your plate, do you think you’re going to do well? No. You’re going to study as much as you can for your two exams, only finish three of the stories but half ass them, and do as little as possible to prepare for your presentation. Because not only is that a lot within itself, you also have other obligations. 

This isn’t good for our grades. We’re struggling just to get by. It’s the worst time you’ll ever experience in college besides your first hangover. It’s hell. 

Obviously, midterms shouldn’t be obliterated from curriculum, but professors have to be more mindful of what they’re putting their students through. Some of them are. I know of a few professors who have just decided to forgo certain assignments because they could tell our heads were about to explode from stress. But many other professors don’t notice, and don’t care. Then they wonder why we do so bad in their class. 

I think educators should reconsider the way they go about midterms. There is no need for me to write an entire essay and do a presentation by Thursday for the same class! Why couldn’t I have done the presentation earlier? Or done it later in the semester? 

I asked one of my friends what they thought, as well. This week alone he had two five-page writing assignments, an exam, a group project, and a take home quiz. Keep in mind that he is a junior in mechanical engineering. He’s already decided he’s just not doing one of his papers, too, because it’s too much for him. 

He’d rather get a zero on one assignment and do well on the rest of his work, than do mediocre on all of them. 

These are all just things for teachers and professors to consider. Often times, I hear my professors say, “I was a student too!” But they surely don’t act like it. 

Take this as a cry of help from one student to all her professors. School and life is hard enough as it is! 

Feature photo courtesy of Flickr.