Let’s be real. Between surviving on caffeine, calculating the hours until your next class, and convincing yourself a five-minute break won’t turn into doomscrolling on TikTok, exam season is already hard enough to balance as is.
Then, your worst notification yet: A Canvas notification that tells you your midterm grade has been updated.
One minute, you’re casually scrolling on your phone, and the next, you’re either going to celebrate or contemplate switching majors.
Whether you’ve studied for two weeks or crammed everything into an all-nighter, we’ve all experienced the emotional roller coaster that comes with seeing a grade we weren’t expecting. With that being said, here are the seven stages of grief that we unfortunately all know too well:
- Denial
Thinking to yourself, “There’s no way that’s my grade,” while refreshing the page, trying to convince yourself that Canvas is having some technical difficulties or that your professor has you confused with someone else.
- Anger
All that studying, all those sleepless nights, for this? Suddenly all the questions were unfair, and the professor’s lectures were useless.
- Bargaining
Checking the syllabus, debating whether or not you can come back from the grade, and opening the trusty grade calculator, while promising yourself you’ll study harder next time.
- Spiraling
Your friend got a 95. Your other friend barely studied. Meanwhile, you’re on Rate My Professor wondering if transferring is still an option. Suddenly, all you can think about is that your academic career might be ruined because of a grade that’s worth 20% of your final grade.
- Delusion
After you look at the syllabus, you realize there might still be hope. If you get an A on every assignment, ace the final, and somehow earn some extra credit, your GPA might survive. The math is questionable, but so is your thinking.
- Selective Amnesia
Some time passes, and you’ve forgotten (or tried to forget) all about your midterm grade, as if it never happened. You stop refreshing Canvas to check your grade, and pretend everything is fine. If you don’t think about it, it’s not there, and it surely can’t hurt you.
- The Academic Comeback
You organize your tasks, make a study playlist, and even go out and buy something to motivate yourself. This time, you’re attending every lecture, going to office hours, and starting your assignments early. You’re this revamped version of yourself that you’re content with, at least until the next exam.
In the end, we’ll recover, our GPAs will survive, and life will go on. A bad grade doesn’t define you. We’ll probably make the same promises to study earlier next time too. But for now, the grades are in, the study snacks are all gone, and we’re officially off the clock. Until finals, that is.
