A typical school day

Up at 6
Maybe get my son ready for day care, maybe my wife does.
Drop off son at day care.
At school by 7:45
Get big cup of coffee
Classes start at 8
Depending on the day one or two classes take me up to lunch.
Go to the computer lab and print out PPs.
Have some lunch at the entirely unhealthy and comparatively expensive cafeteria
Study, either for the class I will be going to at 1 or the class I just came from.
get a diet Pepsi Max - it has some extra peppy ingredients
One more class 1 to 3:30
Study, alone or with others for an hour
complete any assignments, quizzes, etc that need to be done
pick up son from day care
drive home
listen to wife complain about crappy job/co-workers
play with son
study a little
eat dinner with family
play with son
study from 8 to 10 or 11
go to bed at 11
fall asleep at midnight or so

I had seven classes this semester and 6 were really tough. I ended up with 2 B's and 5 A's and no one is more surprised, relieved, and proud than I am. Now I get to relax, exercise, play with my son and read for fun.

Everything is done but the crying

Finals all but history. I studied what I could and tried not to sweat it too much. Thankfully I was neurotic at the beginning of the semester and built up a comfortable enough cushion that 50's on most finals would let me keep a B. I don't think I got less that a B on any of my finals and actually got a 98% on my biochem final. Interestingly, biochem was the class I was most worried about going into the semester but it really clicked, the instructor was good and the test schedule didn't conflict with any other classes or projects. I still have to wait a week for my grades to be finalized but I am happy to this first semester under my belt. I really think the key is to work your tail off during the semester when time management is, well, more manageable, so that when finals roll around and time is ultra-valuable and fleeting, some lapses in studying won't have as great an impact.

How important are grades?

Here is my dilemma. I have 7 finals (6 classes) coming up next week and little time to study. In the remaining classes (we had a couple finals last week) I have one B, a couple of 90.5's and a few really solid A's. I am debating the merits of studying economically in these last few days of class and perhaps letting some of my A's become B's. I feel that I know the subjects well but I realize that I do not have the time to dedicate to studying to guarantee an A on any of these tests. In fact, any one of these tests on their own would merit 3-5 solid days of studying in order to get an A, especially those classes where I hold a tenuous 90%. The conflict lies in that I worked pretty hard to get the grades I've got and I would feel bad about letting any of them slip. However, time and sanity dictate that I cannot put in the time needed to ace these tests and that really all that matters is that I pass. Add to this the fact that my son has responded very well to my spending addition time with him the past two days. I know which way I am leaning but if you, dear reader, have any input I'd love to read it.

My son is hurting me.

He's just 3 but he sure did put a hurtin' on me today. First my wife tells me that he bit and hit a fellow classmate today. No father wants to hear that his young son has developed a nasty violent streak. When I came home he didn't want anything to with me. He wouldn't really even talk to me. When I asked him questions about his day he would just say "No" and hit me. At bed time he had a total meltdown and refused to let me help him brush his teeth, go potty, put on his pull-up or put his jammies on. He screamed and hollered and balled his eyes out. I tried all evening to spend some quality, positive time with him and got nowhere with that or any studying that I could have been doing in the meantime. Now I have lost what little motivation to study I built up over the day. And I really need to study. Nothing like having a few serious distractions (see previous posts) to derail any train of thought.

One final down, 8 more to go

The written final for history & physical is in the books. I got a B, which will almost absolutely cement a B for me in the class, barring any disaster in the practical portion of the final coming up. I currently have a B going into the final for clinical medicine and A's in my other classes. I am contemplating whether I should work my butt off to keep my A's or take a more philosophical approach and embrace a few more B's. I was listening to Car Talk on NPR this past weekend and the brothers were giving advice to a young lady who has been experiencing a great deal pressure to achieve A's in all of her classes (I still don't know the connection to cars however). They both told her that B's were perfect as they represented a good grasp of the subject while allowing her to take time from her studies to enjoy life. A's, they told her, were simply not worth the effort because obtaining one in any given class forces her to sacrifice too much in terms of experiencing and enjoying life. I prefer to keep my A's if at all possible, but as we near the end of a very intense and demanding semester, I also feel my ability and desire to focus wane. I am over it. As far as I am concerned, the semester is all but over. The question is, can I wring out two more weeks of intense, sometimes maddening studying to maintain my hard earned A's. Oh, did I mention my wife is leaving town the week of finals (optional overseas business travel) and invited her parents to come over (just 500 miles or so) and take care of my son while I take my finals? They can and will handle most issues smoothly, but should any problem or complication arise, I will have to drop everything to take care of it.