We’re now in the thick of finals period, so I thought I’d take a step back to let you all know how this whole thing works. Some high schools might have final exams, but mine didn’t, so the concept of finishing classes almost two weeks before you actually end the semester was foreign to me when I arrived at Amherst.
Our last day of classes was last Wednesday, December 11. From Thursday to Sunday, we had reading period, a time with no classes and no exams to spend studying for tests and writing essays. Today, Monday, is the first day of exam period, which will last until Friday.
Whether a class holds final exams is up to the professor. All STEM classes typically have a formal 2-3 hour cumulative exam during exam period, and while it’s less common, some humanities and social sciences will hold in-person essay-type exams. I’ve only had to take a real final exam once, for my intro to economics class freshman year. Otherwise, all my finals have taken the form of in-class exams on the last day of classes, or final essays due sometime during reading period or exam period.
This year, my exams are really just a lot of writing. I have a 7 page essay for my Portuguese class at UMass, an 18 page paper for my Environmental Studies senior seminar (which is a chapter of my thesis), and my introduction and first two thesis chapters are due to the Environmental Studies department. For my Amazonia in International Relations class, our final was a public group presentation on the last day of classes. Surprisingly, it’s going pretty well. I’ve taken up a new residence in the basement of Frost library, where they’ve got nice big computers, and I’ve been churning away at all the writing.
Without the structure of classes and meetings, reading period can actually be a really nice time. There’s certainly a lot of work hanging over our heads, but people start to get sentimental about leaving Amherst, especially those graduating mid-year and those going abroad. I’ve spent all my free time with my friends and housemates, cooking super late night dinners post-library and enjoying our fireplace. It’s wild to think I have just one more semester left. I’m excited to be on campus for most of January to soak up as much Amherst time as I can before I have to go.
On campus, different student life departments provide de-stress things like therapy dogs (maybe goats?), hot chocolate, snacks, and 3-d printed rainbow frogs. I tried a lip mask for the first time and didn’t like it so much, but the hot chocolate is always appreciated. It’s nice how many different people on campus take on extra work to support students during this time.
For this rest of this week I’ll be in front of the computer, finishing up work and enjoying the tiny dusting of snow we just got (+ hoping for more). I hope there’s good cozy weather wherever you are. As always, feel free to email me, swolff25@amherst.edu, with questions about finals or anything else!