Sarah - Oct 09

Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 03:08 Written by Andrew Lai Monday, 02 November 2009 02:54

Three more weeks and it will be time to bid farewell to the University of Tasmania. In my last week of classes, I couldn’t help but compare a semester back home to my current one. 

 If someone told me I would be finishing classes in October and out of school early November, I wouldn’t believe them. Not only is it two months earlier than usual, but also the weather is sunny and there is no snow in sight. It has already snowed twice back on the East Coast, twice! On the other hand, I am not opposed to being outside working on my tan in addition to my studies.

The last week of classes was more laid back than I’m used to. It certainly did not feel like uni was ending at least, especially since I still had five assignments due before exams. If I were at my university back home, my last few classes would be spent reviewing and preparing for the final, but none of my lecturers here gave an outline to the exam like I was used to. Instead, my lecturers crammed in as much last minute lessons as possible on that last day, no review guides. However all the final exams from the past years are available online, at least four years worth.

One of the most interesting differences between uni here and uni back home is that there’s a week between classes ending and finals starting. It’s called SWOTVAC, similar to a “vacation,” if your idea of a vacation is sitting in your room for hours on end relearning everything your lecturers tried to teach you thirteen weeks prior. Not only do I have seven more days, but also tutorials are offered both on campus and at my residential college. Although I never took advantage of the tutorials offered at college, my lecturers certainly made sure there was a sufficient amount of help before our exams. Unfortunately, this luxurious extra study week does not exist. Things are a little faster paced, as we do on the East Coast I’ve been told. Regardless, I finish classes on Friday and then start exams the following Monday. My Aussie friends find it ridiculous, but in my mind, it’s the norm.

My first exam was in Remote Sensing, my least favourite course this semester, until SWOTVAC that is. I always dreaded the weekly two-hour lectures, but when I finally sat down to prepare for my final, I forced myself to relearn the material by reading my textbook. Remember that expensive, heavy thing lecturers recommend you to buy at the beginning of the semester? It proved to be quite useful, interesting actually, but that did not make me any less nervous about my exam. I had no idea what to expect for it until it finally came time to take it.

I could not be more eager to take my final, 9 a.m. could not come soon enough. I paraded into the T.U.U. with everyone else in search of the exam list. Unlike back home, four or five different exams go on in the same room, at the same time and there are assigned seats for each exam. As I walked into the examination room, I flashed back four years to the SAT’s; that long five-hour test I suffered through three times where I sat with many other students in an organised manner. My exam was assigned seats 260-272 out of 400, so I slowly made my way to seat 267.
I sat down and looked around the empty room, gradually filling with other students from my course, as well as psychology and economics students. Bizarre, I know. I’m used to sitting in my regular lecture hall with my professor and students from class. Either way, this was something new, something to adjust to, too bad I had less than five minutes to do so. After a brief panic attack, I calmed down, put my school I.D. card in the top right corner of my desk and waited for instructions from the lead examiner.

It’s 9:07 a.m., fifteen minutes reading time, and then 120 more to complete the exam, so open the answer booklet and begin. Wish me luck!

Cheers,
Sarah

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