It’s the week before Thanksgiving, A.K.A. the second to worst week of the semester – second only to finals. This is the week where the fact that the semester is starting to come to a close finally hits you, as well as the realization that you now have little to no time to bring up the grade in the class you’re currently pulling a D- in (the class that is required for your major, might I add). 

As a result, you end up in the library until 2 a.m. the night before your exam. Sweating, crying, throwing up and screaming internally as you try to cram 10 lectures worth of information into your brain, which at this point, is running at a functional brain cell count lower than ever before. All of this is quite unfortunate because during your desperately needed meeting with your professor to determine a strategy on how to pass the class, he informed you that you need a 99 percent on this exam and a stellar grade on your final to get a C+. There is no room for error here. All systems are a go as you attempt to fly through an entire unit in one night of studying. 

After taking the exam you have barely any time to dwell on how it went because you have no choice but to immediately start preparing for the next one. Now that you think about it, you almost don’t even remember taking the exam. It’s as if you were hypnotized by academia and it completely took over all consciousness from the time you entered the classroom to the time you left. But more likely than not it is just the result of the fact that you got 47 seconds of sleep the night before.

It is a whole lot of pain and suffering we students put ourselves through to get a good grade. The dedication (and insanity) it takes to bring a failing grade to a passing one is not for the faint of heart. While it is difficult in the moment, one day you’ll get your degree and start your dream job and all the agony, sleepless nights and caffeine overloads will be worth it… hopefully.