Awesome to Awful

From pure relief to pure disappointment. This past week has been filled with its ups and downs. I thought this past finals week was going by pretty nicely. Of course I was freaking out when it first started since I had no idea how I was going to manage my time to study.

Three straight nights spent at the library. Four straight days I watched the sun rise with tired eyes.

Out of those four days, I had only one day I got more than 8 hours of sleep. That was between my third and last final. I slept the entire afternoon and woke up to study for my last exam. I felt like I did decent on the other three (don't want to jinx it now) and was prepared to study until my brain fried. Since I missed some lectures (like 1/3 of them) and two film screenings, I had a lot to catch up on.

I wrote down my finals schedule on my calendar and had "ETS 153 FINAL @ 5-7 PM" written down in red for the 17th. I figured I had plenty of time to study. I head over the Physics building where it was being held at 4:45 PM. I see a friend who lived on my floor last year waiting outside the auditorium. I thought he was in my class and say I didn't know he took ETS 153. He said he didn't and he was in physics. I look around and see other people with physics notes and calculators out. He shows me his examination time on his phone. I thus quickly pull out my phone and check MySlice. Surely enough, it tells me that my exam is from 3-5 PM.

I felt my heart sink at that moment. I was too tired to scream. I was too frustrated to think. I ran into the auditorium as the last of my classmates finished their exam. I approached my professor and I couldn't even speak. All I could mutter was "I...uh...muh...missed the exam. I thought it was from 3-5...is there a-any way I can make it up?" He gave me the answer I expected. "No." I thanked him for his time and left with my mind wiping blank. I didn't even know how to react.

I emailed my TA shortly after about the situation and all she could tell me was that I did well enough in the class not to fail. That was the least reassuring thing I could have read. It wasn't failing I was afraid of. I'm confident that I would not fail the class. My lowest grade was a B-. But that didn't mean I wouldn't get a C or D.

I'm just thankful my friends at home here have taken my mind away from this.