Overheard: LS1b Midterm

With midterms in the air, no one loves to complain more than the STEM kids in our lives. This holds especially true for those poor pre-med students and procrastinators alike who gathered last Monday for the LS1b midterm. We sent a reporter to witness the pre-exam fun.

“I have one pencil that actually works...”

Ah yes, we’re back at that point in the semester where we have exactly one pencil to our name, and any papers we get are just shoved into our backpacks. Not even the impending doom of a midterm can motivate us to toss an extra pencil into our backpack before walking into the exam room. Spring break really can’t come soon enough!

“Does anyone have an extra calculator?” “Yes, but it’s a small baby.”

They really weren’t kidding. Imagine hoping for that TI-84 of your dreams, and instead getting one that fits in the palm of your hand. I’m not sure what kind of math happens during these midterms, but hopefully for the sake of this poor soul it wasn’t anything that requires more than a “baby” calculator.

*Quietly slides a succulent into their bag as the test is starting*

A good luck charm? A gift? One last reminder of happiness before a terrible exam? Not sure if more or less context would make this better, but either way this is probably one of the best test-taking strategies I’ve seen. Remind me to grab a small houseplant on the way to my next midterm.

“I just threw up in my mouth.”

You know, I feel for you. LS1b seems like a tough time. Would I be feeling like this if I had to take it? Probably. But to be fair, you did sign up for this. Maybe try to avoid the whole throwing up thing though — I can’t imagine that would be good for your Scantron.

Judging by these comments, I’m really not sure how well this midterm went for these poor pre-meds. But all jokes aside, to our future doctors, don’t let one #yikes of a midterm get you down. And to the rest of you, here’s hoping that your midterms are a lot less stressful.