I never realized how much hysteria and chaos could come from the preparation for an exam. The days leading up to the MA 123 exam were fairly calm in the beginning, but toward the end when the days drew closer and closer to exam day, the nervousness and hysteria for the exam was practically palpable. On the Monday before the exam, when I walked into my Calculus lecture, I could already tell that everyone was as on edge as I was about the exam that we were all going to take on Thursday.
My professor had begun to tell us the material that was going to be on the exam, and I began to feel more nervous as to how the exam was going to be presented and how hard the questions were going to be. From what he was saying, I knew that I was going to be living in the library this week. I would have no life outside of studying for Calculus and I was happy with that because I knew that it would be of my benefit to do so.
Needless to say, I had stayed at the library for most of that week, only leaving to go to Pierce for dinner or to go to class. By Tuesday, I could tell my recitation professor could see that we were all curious as to how difficult the exam would be and if anyone would even pass the exam. With this in mind, she tried her hardest to dispel our worries, but with that in mind, I don’t believe that anyone really found any consolation from her words of encouragement.
I was still feeling nervous about the exam by Tuesday night, so I decided to go to the Calculus Review that was happening that night for anyone who was taking the exam. That was honestly the best math review that I have ever been to. It was very helpful to hear someone other than my recitation and lecture professors conveying the information that was going to be on the test. I actually understood the material even more than I had before, and after that hour-and-a-half of taking in the information, I had felt like I could ace the exam.
Even though I felt like I knew the material even more after that review session, by Wednesday evening and finally the day of the exam, I still felt slightly nervous for what the exam would entail. When exam time finally came, I took a deep breath and walked into the exam room. When I walked in, I felt like I could cut the suspense that was building in the room with a knife. I decided to calm down, get in the “math zone”, and try as hard as I could to ace the exam. By the end of the exam, I felt like I could conquer the world because I knew that I had worked hard through hours of studying to do well on the exam. Hopefully all of my efforts were not for naught.
