Midterms for my two summer courses were due at 12:00 noon today. I finished close to 4:00 AM. That’s par for the course.
As late as midnight I told Steffie (who seems to have inherited her father’s nocturnal lifestyle) I was apprehensive. I’ve done well in both courses but could sense impending doom.
I did everything I could to postpone the inevitable. I went downstairs to snack. Played a quick game of poker (A $15 +$1 sit ‘n go turbo tournament where I placed 3rd and got back $22). Went downstairs again. Finally, I had no choice but to take the tests.
They were both 50 question, multiple choice, open book test (if you don’t know the work a book won’t help. Maybe you could look up ten answers before running out of time). Each test had a time limit of 60 minutes, and a countdown clock on the top of the test’s browser window.
Summer classes at MSU are given in a condensed time frame. What is normally a seven day cycle becomes a five days. Assignments, due on Wednesdays in the fall and spring, float around the days of the week. I’ve had deadlines on weekends and even holidays.
I took the Applied Climatology midterm first. It was difficult, but I think I did all right. Considering no one will ever see my grades, I probably anguish a little too much over this.
The Radar Meteorology midterm was another story. For the past few days other students had been kvetching on the class bulletin board that there was no study guide (a luxury I had never even suspected existed before my Mississippi State classes). The professor replied everything was fair game. But this course had lots of reading, complex formulas and voluminous webpage references. It was a daunting task to prepare.
After his response the tension on the bulletin board became thick enough to cut with a knife.
There’s no doubt, the test was tough. I have no idea how I did. Most likely it will be one of the low points of the last six semesters.
I have no problem with the lack of a study guide, I am, however, bothered by double questions. I’m not sure what else to call them. The way it works is, you’re given two separate questions, true or false. So, the answer could be both true, both false, etc. The problem is, it’s possible to know half the answers in this test and get a 0%. To me, that seems a little unfair.
Unfortunately, it is entirely the professor’s call. I really don’t have any say. I try and go with the flow. There’s no choice.
Usually, tests and quizzes are graded very quickly. But, here we are nearly seven hours after the tests closed and no results. Radar Meteorology should be ready tomorrow, but there’s been no word on the status of Applied Climatology.
I’ve got to lighten up. I really do.