Humbled by Midterms

We had another session where we watched the roleplay tapes. This time around, we had a teacher watching with us. She was there to give feedback to the second year students, and she went quite in-depth with them. But she also gave a nod toward the first-year students and her observations of how we behave and the implications of it. I was told I was a "natural actor" and that my ability to put myself in the position of another really shows my level of empathy, and that I should concentrate on putting this skill to use in the future. I was really quite happy.

Remember how I said that watching myself on tape had been a real pain? I was worried that I was too good at playing roles with "An assumption of defeat" and that I might carry that image with me. I also thought my voice was whiny and high pitched. Well, strangest thing. When I was watching the videos the second time around, I did not feel nearly so negatively about either of my characters. Instead, I felt that both of them had a good deal of charisma, and that each of them spoke in a way that gave a strong impact, despite the "assumption of defeat".

I had a midterm today. I won't say whether or not I have confidence in it, because so far, the one I had the most confidence in is the one I've done worst in. This class is the one I'm doing the best in (but thought by most to be the most difficult, go figure), so even if I do fail, I would have to fail by a pretty heavy margin to put me in the red. So far, I've kept my head above water, so I hope that's the pattern I keep up.

When I started this program, I was disappointed at how easy it was. This is because the course load is so much lighter than in HSF, which was only a beginner program. But these past midterms have given me a wake-up call. Even if my course load is lighter, my average is way lower. That's because the teachers in this program grade hard. This is a program that values quality over quantity. I got cocky, and so this midterm was the first that I took seriously.

Everyone else from HSF feels the same. They underestimated the program due to courseload, got humbled, and are now only getting serious at this midterm rush.

I've got another midterm tomorrow for Intro to Professional Practice. Short answer. The type of test I would normally feel confident in, but which I've done worst in this year, so my confidence isn't too great.

Then I've got a multiple choice test in Psych the next day, which, just because of the nature of the program, would normally be easy, except for the fact that I've got such little time to study between my more demanding midterms.

But I have a Social Location paper coming up in two weeks, and I love papers! Just the type of thing I'm into, too. And so far, I've only done poorly on tests. As far as papers and practical application are concerned, I'm still at the top.