You know it’s time for midterms when you arrive at Powell
and find students packed into cubicles like sardines, or when you
automatically mutter curses at the sight of clocks, books and
papers.
You also know it’s time for midterms when daily
necessities such as eating and sleeping become second ““ or
third or fourth ““ priority.
From third week on, the demands of schoolwork and exams have the
potential to leave you trapped in a life of midterms after papers
after midterms until finals ““ then wash and repeat.
But with a dose of reality, this “burden” of
schoolwork and stress is put into perspective by the realization
that life could be worse.
Tests, papers and stress can seem to engulf our very existence.
We register nothing else in between or beyond. Immersed in the
academic microcosm of UCLA, it can be difficult to keep in mind the
limited access to post-secondary education offered to the rest of
the world.
But post-secondary education is viewed by the world as a
privilege for the very few rather than a right ““ and this
reality is reflected by the enrollment rates of post-secondary
education in other countries.
According to Families.com, the average enrollment in higher
education averaged 10 percent in developing nations in 1997. This
figure was 3.9 percent in Africa.
Though availability of education has increased in all countries
over the course of time according to Families.com, the United
States still prevails as the leading nation for educational
opportunities.
A 2001 educational comparisons study among the eight most
developed countries in the world revealed that “24 percent of
18- to 29-year-olds in the United States were enrolled in higher
education. This enrollment rate was higher than that of all other
countries presented,” according to the National Center for
Educational Statistics.
But even in the United States, not everyone is offered an
opportunity to pursue higher education. As disheartening as it is,
the inaccessibility of education is not uncommon. Because we are
constantly surrounded by other students in an academic atmosphere,
it’s easy to forget that elsewhere ““ even in the United
States ““ folks our age are working for survival, discomforted
by the privileges of student life.
I won’t deny that midterms and papers can be the banes of
our existence.
The bomb suddenly hits and the workload multiplies exponentially
at this point in the quarter, leading to a frantic race against
time.
And the fact that each test or paper comprises a great chunk of
the overall grade naturally leads to feeling overwhelmingly
stressed.
Though short-term stress can be a productive and motivational
factor, “long-term chronic stress is harmful,” says
psychology Professor Carlos Grijalva. Grijalva stated that stress
produces cortisol, a hormone that helps people cope under extreme
conditions.
But consistent release of cortisol can be counterproductive,
leading to potential memory and cognition impairment.
This “damaging effect” may be seen in students
resorting to crazy and eccentric acts, such as the Undie Run and
Midnight Yell.
But in the context of the world at large, anxiety and stress
from midterms cannot match the life-and-death worries plaguing
countless others.
Taking into account the poverty rates and raging wars in some
areas, life as a student ““ cradled by Westwood’s
protective barriers ““ is a bed of roses.
It definitely pains us to study for long hours, but this stress
and work will ultimately lead to a wider range of career choices
and the opportunities to gain knowledge of the workings of
society.
Despite the associated pressures, learning really isn’t
all that bad.
These challenges also result in intrapersonal rewards in the
end.
The ambition and diligence required to surmount these academic
obstacles lead to experiences otherwise never pursued. Challenge
and stress lead to “self-actualization” and the
“striving to broaden ourselves,” according to
Grijalva.
In some twisted sense, I suppose we are privileged to be
stressed ““ to trudge through endless hours of studying under
the clouds of tension, to deal with dizzy spells resulting from
sleepless nights.
Looking at the big picture in comparison to the educational
accessibility elsewhere, the stressful academic life as a UCLA
student seems like a delectable pie.
Oh, and of course, after a subhuman existence of poring over
books and papers, the reaped reward of an awesome grade is just the
icing on the cake.
E-mail Yoo at jyoo@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.