Surviving Finals Week
Finals week is here again. I've spent all semester learning an enormous amount of information, and now it's time to test how well I know it.
In PA school, especially during finals week, it seems as though I've found myself frantically cramming all of the information studied throughout the semester into my brain yet again. I have to admit that even though I knew this program was going to be intense, it's hard to prepare for how emotionally and psychologically draining this week can be. With one test to go, all I can think of is the brief sign of relief I'll get over our three-day weekend before winter term begins.
When I started school in June, I thought that because of the fast pace, and the fact that I was digesting more information in one sitting than I ever have before, it would be difficult to truly absorb all of the information that we'd need to know. I have to say that despite being exhausted, I feel strangely, confidently prepared. While I've been writing my papers, doing my presentations and sitting down to take my finals, I feel exceptionally more knowledgeable than I was before. It's obvious that we will know more with each coming semester, but I think it's easy for us to lose sight of how much we really are taking in and storing for the day that we'll need it in practice.
Even though it can seem unfeasible that we'll be able to remember so much in such a short amount of time, we can take notice that perhaps we are absorbing more than we think. I know that this week, even while counting down the hours until finals are over, I'm taking comfort in the fact that with each semester that's come and gone, I feel even more prepared to be as knowledgeable a provider I can be.