Artwork by
Dennis Murphy

For the students, by the students

Exam Strategy Sessions Fall Short
Christian Prosser, Corner Post Staff

As I innocuously sat down in the back of the small room in the basement of the Student Success Center, a sinking feeling crept into my stomach. I've been to a few study sessions in my time and never found anything new. This one did not feel any different. For the next hour, I heard the same banal, trite, often contradicting half-truths that had been repeated to me since seventh grade, "Cramming doesn't work," "The more you spread out your studying, the more you lower your stress level," "'Stop Day' is not start day," "Avoid getting burned out by studying the day before and of exams," "Eat regularly, try to get a decent night's sleep," "You're better off not studying and sleeping than cramming all night and trying to take a test."

These were a few of the 'tips' offered. Although my personal favorite has to be "Get all your stuff together and put it on your desk or something." Not to put down instructor Doug Clark.

"I think the guy did an all right job, given what he had to work with," said freshman Joel Sjerven. I think that Joel was being a little nice, even he drew a sketch of Mr. Clark. But, that's beside the point.

The point is that just about every college student has, at one time or another gotten bogged down with exams and had to say to himself/herself those four horrible words, "I'm staying in tonight." The study sessions that the University of Missouri-Columbia has offered in the past seem to only reinforce what we already know. "It was common knowledge," said freshman Adrian Neil of the study session.

Even more disturbing was the fact that many students, those who weren't naïve little freshmen, were baited into going from the promise a mystical illusive prey that many college students never see.

"I just came for extra credit," said freshman Megan Casrid, who also noted that the session was "common sense from high school."

"I think I'm actually the only one who didn't have to be there," Sjerven said. With suggestions like, "cramming doesn't work," and "caffeine doesn't work," which are debatable by many students; it would seem that offering ways to deal with these situations would be more helpful. Because when it comes down to it, no one wants to cram all night but sometimes there's no avoiding it.

And, contrary to popular belief, caffeine has been shown to improve concentration. (http://www.cosic.org/caffeine/stimulanteffects/) And knowing that many students go without sleep during finals, the Success Center could offer tips on dealing with sleep deprivation (http://www.babycentre.co.uk/refcap/7968.html).

But no, incoming freshman who don't know any better and students who are blackmailed into going to these workshops are subjected to the same monotonous nonsense year after year. I guess the moral of the story is to rely on one's self. Students know what works for them more than anyone else. The most important thing required in studying for finals isn't what format of notes you use, but that upper arm movement required turning off the TV.

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