I wrote a midterm today. This should not come as any surprise to anyone, even me, as I am a University student. I always feel this profound sense of relief after an exam is over, no matter how well I think I did. Today, however, I think that I did quite well, though my initial perceptions on exam performances have been shaky in terms of accuracy in the past. This midterm from today was for BISC 313, Environmental Toxicology. 313 is a class that I like, and has not showed itself to be really difficult as of yet (remember my inaccuracy on evaluation of exam performance (post exam, pre-grade)). This is not a statement that I can say for my other two classes, Organic Chemistry I (Chem 150), and Animal Physiology (BISC 305). My Animal Physiology professor keeps taunting us with how bad we did on last weeks exam, even though he has no told us any of our marks yet. He seems almost proud that the reality is likely that 40% on this exam will yield a letter grade of around a B. This exam, like the toxicology exam today, was not remarkable in terms of its difficulty, but in terms of its length. I wrote 5 definitions (with examples), two short essays, and one long essay, all in 50 minutes for a total of 7 pages. My hands have not completely ceased spasming as of yet! Nothing dismays me more that looking at the clock during an exam and realizing that I have either two more points to add to my essay (today) or a whole big question left to complete (last week – 305).
I was finding Organic chemistry to be remarkably easy, not at all like I suspected up until the midterm. I had 80% on this midterm, which, considering the exam, I was kind of disappointed about. IF you had told me that I would be disappointed with a mark like hat on any chemistry exam I would have laughed out loud. However, since the midterm successes, the whole thing has avalanched and I am smothered without any air to breathe. Talk about being lulled into complacency (complacency might not be the right word, I mean to indicate that I was comfortable with the way that things were progressing….).
That is enough complaining for now.