What a relief. No more finals, no more Snell library, and lastly no more school!!! (for now at least) This past semester was well worth the work I put into it, and has given me motivation for next year. After having spent the majority (about 80%) of the last two weeks of school in the library, I was able to leave Boston and head home. All the studying paid off because I did better than expected on all my finals. The preparation was worth it in the end and I am very glad I did well on everything. This past semester was by far my most challenging and I somehow managed to raise my GPA which makes all the work worth while. A+P was mostly about preparation so that wasn't too difficult, but Organic chemistry was a totally different story. The hardest test was the third which i did pretty poor on, and since the final was cumulative I had to know this material much more thoroughly. Hours and hours later I almost understood this bland, and challenging topic and I felt I was truly ready for the final. To my surprise the final was actually easier than expected which made me feel more confident about my grade. Physics was a tough final which I didn't really expect, but it is the last time I will EVER need to know the coefficient of friction for a car going down a ramp. Jazz was the easiest final I have ever taken because he gave us the questions before hand. Overall the finals process wasn't stressful or straining; it was just annoying.The walk to and from the library was the hardest part, but I am certainly happy I made this trek everyday. The semester as a whole was a good experience. I did well in all my classes, I learned more about basic sciences which I will use in the future, and I had a lot of fun with my friends living in the city. I expect pretty much the same from next semester, and co-op for summer really excites me. I can't wait to live in Boston over the summer months. I hope everyone had fun over the holidays and good luck with the college finding process. Happy Holidays, Neil

Posted by Neil Labak at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello and good day. It is officially finals week at Northeastern. This time of the season is usually a jolly, and upbeat time of the year, but not in college. The days of science fair projects and papers is over (for now), and it is a fun-filled week of final exams. Personally, I had three great days to look forward to, including five finals.

Before I get into the gory details of all of these exams, I must first tell you a little tip about time management. Basically if you can't plan studying times, then you're not going to do well in college. The better planners get the better grades. From the first day of classes I had December 10th and 13th highlighted, circled, and underlined on my calendar. These two dates were the days of my four finals (Anatomy was the 7th). I had Jazz and Physics on the 10th, and Organic Chemistry and Physiology on the 13th. For me, the studying process began a week and a half before my physiology exam. I knew it would be beneficial to study for my hardest classes first before I got to Jazz and Physics. The week (3rd-7th) was full of Physiology notes and memorizing hundreds of pictures of the human anatomy. After many hours of studying, Friday came along with my first final, Anatomy. This was an exam of every possible body part you could ever imagine. Surprisingly, it was much easier than expected. However, this was with plenty of preparation (to say the least).

After this final was in the books, Physics, Jazz and Organic Chemistry came. This past weekend was filled to the brim with Physiology notes, Physics practice problems, and Jazz slides. I got Physiology out of the way by studying it before I got to my Physics and Jazz studying. This way I could dedicate my time to Organic Chemistry. (I suggest studying for harder finals first, so you are more prepared). After about 15 hours of studying, Monday came. I had my Jazz final at 8:00am and this was my 'gimme' final because the teacher literally gave me the questions to the exam before hand. Twenty minutes after I arrived at the test, I was finished. This was a relief to know I did well on an exam, and relaxing to check off another final.

Next was Physics at 3:30 and before that, came five hours of cramming. The test came and went before I knew it. It was much tougher than expected but, I did well enough on the everything else in the class. Instead of trudging off to the library like I had planned, I took the night off to relax and recoup before my next two finals. I was able to do this because I was ahead of my studying due to my time management.

This may seem very boring to most of you, but I think its a great insight to finals week for a pharmacy- second year student. College isn't completely all about fun, and your studies should come first if you want to graduate. The better you plan, the more fun you can 'plan' on having. If you plan to study much more than you ever think you will, then you will always be ahead in that subject. So as I write this from the comfort of my own apartment, while watching Monday Night Football, I suggest you to do the same. Most of my fellow classmates are in the library just beginning to study for our hardest finals, whereas I couldn't have a worry in the world.

The best advice i can ever suggest to any college student is to PLAN your time in advance. Knowing, or at least having a slight idea of what your going to do in a day is automatically going to be more productive than not planning anything at all. The more you do in a day, the less you have to do later on. Another very important point I have to make is: College is the time of your life, its not all about papers, studying and doing work; you always have to find time for fun because college shapes you and prepares you for the rest of your life. Balancing these two important aspects are sometimes difficult for some students, but I couldn't be having a better time in Boston, and my GPA has not been compromised. Happy holidays!

Posted by Neil Labak at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)