It's all Greek to Me

So the title of this post was inspired by a pun my grandma made. I was studying for my Greek Civilizations exam (which I should be doing now, but this is more fun), and struggling with some of the content. I mentioned this to my grandma, who was standing nearby, and she responded “Eh, it’s all Greek to me”. I have the best grandma ever.


Anyway, I’ve decided that, since it’s exam time, I’m going to talk a bit about exams. Now, anyone whose read my blogs before is probably going to jump to the conclusion that I am going to complain about exams at Brock, and be all angry and stuff. However, I’ve decided that I’m going to give a fairly balanced reflection, considering that I was actually surprisingly pleased with the Brock University Exam Experience. Don’t get me wrong, there were plently things that annoyed me to no end, but there was also a sufficient amount of pleasant surprises that I’ve decided mention both here, and ultimately commend Brock on doing exams really well (although also list a few ways in which I think they could be improved).

Good thing 1: Clarity. Brock’s exams are the only thing the school’s done so far that hasn’t confused me a bit. There are lists of exam times and locations everywhere, little arrows posted around the school directing you to rooms, and a big white board outside the gym that gives you all the information you could need to know about your exams. When there are multiple exams in the same gym, each exam has a different colour of book (and the book’s colour is actually written on the front page), and the row numbers are very clearly marked on the walls above each row.

Bad thing 1: Lies. There are posters around the school that say (rather threateningly with big red x’s) that you are not allowed to bring bags into exams, and if you do you can’t go in. Teachers say it is outright disallowed. You are lead to believe that it is basically a criminal act. Then, when you get there, the announcement simply says “So, we don’t like it if you bring bags, but if you did, it’s actually fine, you can just throw them under your desk while you write the exam”. So, basically, after a month of telling you how bad it is to bring bags, you find out that it’s actually only mildly annoying to the administration, and you’re actually perfectly allowed to, as long as they go under your desk. No denied entrance, no legal action, simply a polite request to put it under your desk. The school basically lied to us.

Good thing 2: Clear directions on exams. This actually varies from prof to prof, as they write the exams, but the directions I’ve seen so far have been so easy to follow, you spend little to no time figuring out where to write, or what’s expected, and can instead dive straight into writing. The books also have you put both your name and student number, so neurotic students like me don’t have to be as worried about lost exams, as they have double assurance that it is identified properly.

Bad thing 2: Wobbly desks. Pretty sure Brock uses the same desks from the 1960′s when the school opened. I tried 4 different desks on the day of my first exam, and all four were missing at least one of the caps on the legs, giving them a horrible wobble. One even had a wobbly chair.

Good thing 3: TAs and Profs are both there. Even though there are a bunch of administrators and stuff running the exam, your TAs and professors are there too. This gives you a friendly presence in an otherwise stressful time, and helps a lot more than they probably know.

Bad thing 3: Irritating red tape. Exam administrators can take their jobs way too seriously. I understand they want to prevent cheating, but it makes an exam really difficult to write when they make the atmosphere super intimidating (hence the TAs and profs being a good thing). When one asked us to put the contents of our pockets on the floor under our desks, with any screens face down, it was a bit intimidating to say the least (note that this didn’t happen at all of my exams, just the English one for some reason, so maybe some administrators are more irritating than the others), and then they walk up and down the rows, giving you the most terrifying looks imaginable, and checking your student card occasionally throughout the exam to make sure it is you, and it matches the name on your attendance slip. Monitoring the students is good, making them feel interrogated and super unconfortable while writing a test worth 20% of their grade is not. Brock should try and be less terrifying with their monitoring of the students.

Good thing 4: Natural light. The gym, where most exams are written, has huge windows. If your exam is in the morning, the sun can come shining through the windows, illuminating you and your exam, and giving you a great, refreshing feeling that helps the nerves alot.

Bad thing 4: More Lies. This one’s not as bad as the first. Basically, they tell you that you have to show up 15 minutes early. They then don’t open the doors until the exam starts, meaning you wait outside with nothing to do for 15 minutes. They then also tell you that you are admitted into the exam room for the first 30 minutes of the eaxm, meaning not only that you did not have to show up 15 minutes early, but you actually aren’t allowed to enter the exam room 15 minutes early, and you can actually be up to half an hour late and still get in. It would be ok to reccomend 15 minutes in case of traffic or something, as showing up late takes up time you could’ve spent writing the exam, but don’t make it seem like public transportation where you have to show up 15 minutes early or there’s a chance you won’t be let in.

Good thing 5: Cafeterias are still open during exam time, and there is one right outside the gym where most exams are held. It also has a Timmy’s inside it.

Bad thing 5: No Coffee (or anything similar): there are no drinks besides water allowed in; this doesn't really seem to serve a purpose, and coffee would really help when you are writing for three hours nonstop, sometimes early in the morning or late at night. I mean, most people whose jobs require writing for a long period of time in one place can have a coffee at their desks, why can’t students?

Good thing 6: Exams take place over 3 weeks. With 5 exams, this means you get 10-12 days of the exam period with no exams, giving you a really nice opportunity to study and relax, and removes most of the exam stress. Love this one alot, I ended up getting 5 of these days in a row, giving me an entire week off before exams started.

Bad thing 6: 2 Exams on the same day. one is 9-12 am, the other is 7-10 pm. For students not in residence, this means commuting 4 times in one day, or waiting at the school (which becomes a complete ghost town during exam time) for 7 hours. For students taking the bus to Niagara Falls or Welland, that can mean that up to 4 of those 7 hours can be spent on, or waiting for, busses if you choose to commute. I mean, I know the school can’t do much about this one, but it still sucks big time.

Anyway, as you can see, Brock has an even mix of good and bad, meaning there’s room for improvement, but the exam experience is overall pretty enjoyable, and I’m actually really happy with Brock and how exams have been going. Even if I am not too fond of studying Greek at the moment.
Anyway, until next time, may your exams go as well as mine have, and good luck avoiding wobbly desks and super mean exam administrators! (If you’re in highschool or not in school then have good luck with whatever you’re doing right now). And Merry Christmas if I don’t write before then (not sure what the odds are right now. Busy schedule). Good bye.