As a freshman, I recently got to experience my first encounter with college midterms.

My midterm exam took place in and throughout the middle of October.

Unlike finals week, when one takes their midterms all depends on the individual classes in question.

Some classes have midterms at the beginning of October, and others wait all the way until November to drop the exams.

There are perhaps only two other major events in any semester that students of Mercyhurst dread more than midterms.

Those events are finals week and registration day.

Out of the six courses that I am taking this year, I only had to take one midterm.

That midterm was for my Energy and Environmental Justice class.

The midterm was not exceedingly arduous, but it was challenging enough that my peers and I really had to study in order to be successful.

I took this difficult midterm on Oct. 16.

About a week before fall break, my classmates and I all received study guides for the midterm.

This hefty study guide included 116 questions in total.

Instead of going home for fall break, I opted to stay on campus.

At the time I felt that I could get more work accomplished at Mercyhurst as opposed to at home.

During fall break, another girl in my class and I got together and filled out most of the study guide.

It took the two of us quite a long time to do, which isn’t surprising considering the number of questions on the guide.

Along the way, we quizzed each other and I made the study guide into a Quizlet.

Quizlet, for those who don’t know, is an online tool that lets you create your own flashcards and quizzes.

After creating the Quizlet, I studied every morning at breakfast on my phone for 10 minutes with 10 to 12 cards at a time up until the day of the midterm.

This, as you imagine, took a lot of time out my morning, but I felt that the gains outweighed the costs.

I elected to share my Quizlet with my classmates so they could study using the tool as well.

Four of my classmates and I also formed a study group, which I felt was key to our success with the midterm.

We met on the Sunday before the exam in order to cram before the big test.

Although I only had to take one midterm, it taught me a lot about how midterms work at Mercyhurst.

One lesson I learned this year is to not under any circumstances put off studying.

I believe that my studying daily in short increments was incredibly beneficial in my success with this difficult midterm.

I was able to finish the 50 question test in around 20 minutes.

Additionally, I learned that study groups are very helpful in cementing what you know.

This is because if you can explain information and teach others, then it helps you to comprehend and really nail down the material.

I can safely say that my dedication to the study group helped me do well on this midterm.

Lastly, I learned that although midterms and grades are important, one’s health is more important.

This includes physical, mental and emotional health.

If one’s health is not a top priority during this time of year, then the success rate of that individual will drop incredibly fast.

Studying will become twice as ineffective because of one’s inability to focus and comprehend ideas and concepts.

As a freshman, my experience taking this year’s midterm exams was not quite terrible by any means.