Stayed out late on a Wednesday night and skipped your Thursday classes?
Who cares?!
Haven't touched that history book for a couple days — er — weeks?
Who cares?!
Midterms are over. We've just had an entire week for Fall Break, a luxury granted to us by our kindhearted administration. Finals are about as far away from today as I am from getting with Lindsay Lohan.
However, the majority of Princeton students dislike having exams after winter break. Explains Mark Price '06, "You have this worry floating over your head during the holidays."
He's right. It sucks during holidays. I hate it too, especially when everyone back home delights in repeatedly pointing out how sorry they are for me that I don't get to sit around and enjoy break like they do.
Oh, pooh, pooh, my friends. That glass is looking a little vacant to me. Fill that baby up!
There is no other time of year when exams are so far away. First half of first semester, midterms are approaching. First half of second semester, midterms are coming up again. Second half of second semester, finals are waiting for you with a big smile.
Right now, we have six weeks of class and then absolutely nothing. It's kind of like standing on a beautiful beach and staring into the horizon. All the fun's right around you. Everything else that matters is so far away. That one came straight from the cheese shop, which I do believe actually exists somewhere on Nassau Street.
I think we have all realized that it is pretty easy to get stressed out at Princeton. With (mostly) tough classes, extracurricular activities, sports, junior papers, theses and job interviews, life can get a little hectic.
These are the six weeks of the year where I (usually) go to class, learn what I can (or enough to do the problem sets) and am actually able to focus on the material that I find the most interesting rather than have the fun taken out of learning by being forced to stuff formulas into my head. Additionally, everyone can spend more time on nonacademic activities and establishing those lifelong friendships that are supposed to develop during our four years of college. Sure, all this can be done during the other parts of the year as well. It's just a heck of a lot easier now.
Says Greg Bronson '05, one of those seniors with a lot on his plate: "We have a few weeks where we don't have to worry. It's pretty cool."
This is the period of time I like to call the first semester lull. So take advantage of these next six weeks, because there's no second semester lull — though there is a second-semester "smack you upside the head". Go to that party that you might consider skipping because you have to do "work." When you don't "feel like reading," don't read. Play a few extra games of Mario Kart with your roommates.
Most importantly, when early-to-mid-December rolls around, make sure that you really, really rub it in when all your friends at other schools with pre-break finals are studying their brains out. Trust me, they're going to do it to you in January.
Neel Gehani is a sophomore from Summit. You can reach him at ngehani@princeton.edu.
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