A Game of Inches

There were some things I always thought I would experience at college.  Some things that come to mind are "a crazy teacher who wears dark glasses" (referenced from the 80's song: The Future's so Bright I Gotta Wear Shades and personified in our freshman chemistry teacher), road trips, fierce football games with amazing marching bands (above is a picture of the marching band splitting an atom during halftime of the homecoming football game), pranks, and classes so hard you get a headache just thinking about them.  The latter involves another tale from the class of 2015.   

I GOT A 66?

This was the average thought (censored a little) going through about 3/4 of the class of 2015's minds, and the thought that was going through my mind, as we looked up our exam scores on the internet, felt our souls crush a little bit, and sunk into despair for the weekend.  For many of us, it was our very first exam at Mines, and it had also been scheduled on the same night as the first freshman chemistry exam, so we had double the studying to do, no perception of what we were in for, and no experience in how to prepare for an exam at Mines.  It was a biology exam covering 7 chapters which we had gone over in about 4 weeks, a class that many of us had been randomly placed into on the basis that our majors did not involve rocks or computers.  Although it may seem to be one of the more simpler subjects, this exam proved to be a turning point in the academic careers of all those who witnessed it at Mines.  And boy did it turn us in the right direction.

I was with those who lamented over their scores that next Monday, as in class our professor displayed our scores in a graph, showing an equal distribution of scores around the average of 65.  She explained to us how this was a good sign- now that all of us A-students in high school had arrived at an institution that challenged us, we were once again met with adversity, and if we wanted that A bad enough, we were going to have to climb our way back up the ladder.  "When the going get's tough, the tough get going," she remarked, while encouraging us to use this as an opportunity to learn from our mistakes.  She then gave some advice for the next exam:

• Use office hours to get a better idea of what went wrong on test day.  Understand why what you answered wrong was wrong, and why the right answer is right.  Was each missed question a mistake in reading, understanding, or material? (each missed question on the exam would be read through and marked with an R, U, or M)
• Spend time doing the online homework.  Don't just rush through it, get the answers from a friend, and neglect to read the actual material in the homework and in the textbook.  As a good friend once mentioned to me, the amount of enjoyment gotten out of the lecture was directly proportional to how much reading he did.
• Schedule the week of the exam with a specific study plan.  Trust me, I did this myself, and it did wonders on my score.  Be sure to read every chapter the exam covers, actually write down the answers to the key points put up on Blackboard, attend or at least get the worksheets from the Academic Excellence Workshops- as those questions very often shop up on the exam, and go back over your notes all during the same week as the exam, preferably spread out over several days.

Now before you take all this advice to heart, remember that every professor is different, and professors can change every year.  I have talked to many a sophomore, and they all said that biology was a breeze their freshman year.  On the other hand, you can never be too prepared.  A bit of advice from me would be to always shoot high for the first exam just in case, until you know how to prepare for the coming exams in that subject.  And number two: don't stress it!  Like my professor said when I went to her office hours, (literally packed with students checking over exams) "before you take any exam, say to yourself that your mother loves you".  Remember that what you're taking is just one exam- and that no exam score, no matter how low, is the end of the world.  Just be sure to learn from it!  Remember that when you are landed at Mines, or some other equally fantastic school, and you get that first 66 on your exam, that you should stop and take the time to think about it.  Your professor is not the one to blame for making it a challenge, you are the one who needs to accept that challenge and bridge the gap to come out victorious.

It's just the best feeling in the world when you know how much harder you studied and how much better you planned for an exam, and then you see the results.  The average score on the next biology exam went up to 76 (compared to 65), while my personal score miraculously went up by 30.  I was ecstatic- along with many of my other biology class friends who were also finally satisfied with their scores. 

Now when it comes to physics, I've heard horror stories even scarier than this one, however I cannot say firsthand.  I will have the pleasure to experience that challenge next semester.  Of course that's what you get for going to a university with one of the best physics programs in the country! (allegedly Mines has the second hardest physics 2 class in the US).

As they say in rugby, it's a game of inches.  Every inch is a victory, and you can't make it to the other side of the field without winning all those little victories.  It also relates to rock climbing as I have experienced; being able to smush yourself up that one INCH can get you high enough to finally reach that next handhold and take that next step.  Figuring out how to take an exam in that one subject is just part of the whole battle.  (below, a little kid battling Marvin the Miner at homecoming football game)

Speaking of battles, I will likely be posting about the upcoming Prom Dress Rugby Game!!! :D  Along with some Halloween shenanigans and an epic two days of Humans vs Zombies.  Right now I am enjoying a calm fall break and looking forward to the rest of October!