PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — University of Maine at Presque Isle students join millions throughout the country as they get through the final stretch of the semester: finals week.
On Monday, bundled up students walked through cold temperatures to take on the final rounds of each of their courses.
Some stood alone, music blaring through their headphones as they made their trek across campus. Others talked and laughed with friends and significant others. Cars lined nearly every parking lot.
Students readily admitted that the whole process was quite stressful. For many, these final exams could raise or tank their grade point averages.
Yet, most said they were well-prepared for the last hurrah of the fall 2019 school year.
Nicole Caddell, a freshman nursing student, said a number of exam reviews from her professors had helped put her mind at ease. She felt prepared, but the momentous ramifications of each test still weighed on her mind. Especially for her nursing final.
“It’s not really that I feel like I don’t know the knowledge,” Caddell said. “It’s just such a big portion of your grade.”
Caddell, who works at the library on campus, said she had noticed that many of even the most well-prepared students struggled with test-taking skills.
“It’s even to the point where sometimes it affects their performance,” Caddell said. “I’m just hoping that they don’t allow that to be the case.”
Dakota Patterson, a junior nursing student, was walking to class to take his world civilization final. He was confident in his abilities, predicting he would ace it.
“I’m not too stressed for finals,” Patterson said. “I’m excited. Getting my semester done, so it’s not too bad.”
Sarah Harris, a senior English major, said it was essays, not in-class exams, that were making her last week difficult for her. She said she and her fellow English majors had to “pump out” pages of writing in a relatively small window.
While writing was surely not without effort, she preferred the format to a laundry list of exams.
“Just get out as much as you can out on this paper and hope for the best,” Harris said with a laugh.
Harris, now facing her seventh straight semester at UMPI, said that while the finals process had not gotten easier for her over time, she had learned how to keep afloat during the busiest time of the year for students.
“It grows with you,” Harris said. “You know how to handle it.”
UMPI has a number of counseling services available for students experiencing emotional distress, as well as any issues that may be interfering with academic or personal goals.
Finals began on Monday morning and will go until Thursday at 2:45 p.m. Classes for the spring semester begin at UMPI on Jan. 21, 2020.
