Students prepare for Fall midterm exams

By Nolan Cleary, Editor-In-Chief

As the Fall 2021 semester reaches its midpoint, students are preparing to take exams for their classes. For many students, midterms come as stressful, as the exams heavily affect the grades of students. Students who fail to keep their grades above a 2.00 GPA are prohibited from participating in extracurricular activities unless they participate in special study programs provided by student activities.

As a result, the college has taken multiple actions to try and help students prepare for their exams. In the library, students can take advantage of free study and tutoring programs. Employees in the Learning Assistance Center aim to give students the help they need to prepare for any upcoming exams. Additionally, the college has held multiple study events on campus and virtually for any students hoping to take exams. 

Veronica Niktyuk, a student in a digital media major said most of her midterm exams have involved projects, rather than tests. “There’s not much studying, it’s just putting in hours to finish my projects,” Niktyuk said. Niktyuk did say she spent most of her time doing her homework in the library and usually studies for exams three days before. 

Jack Johnson, a student in the ECM program said he has to study for exams in multiple classes, including residential construction, math, direct current theory, workplace safety and blueprint design. Johnson said he found the college’s programs to be effective in helping him study for his exams. 

“I’ve been down in the library for the math exams. They’ve helped a lot,” Johnson said. Johnson said he spends two hours every day studying for his upcoming exams. Jeremy Wel, a student in individual studies said he’s already begun his exams for his sociology and math classes. He also took advantage of the on-campus study programs in the library. 

This is Wel’s first semester at a college. Most of his classes are in-person, with only his sociology exam being online. “Most of my exams have been pretty similar,” Wel said. Like other students, Wel has taken advantage of all of the opportunities the library study programs had to offer. While many students seemed to take advantage of opportunities in the library, not all seemed to. Annie Cotone, a student in early childhood teaching is a returning student to Hudson Valley Community College. She said she hasn’t taken advantage of any study programs on campus, but also feels she doesn’t have any need to.

“Since this is my second college experience, I feel like I don’t see the need unless I look at my midterm and say ‘ok, what do we need to do to change this?’ So bottom line, I’ve been trying to do college independently while trying to work part-time,” Cotone said. She said she uses flashcards and other methods to study, while also giving herself multiple days to study for the exam and memorize the answers.

“The thing I find helpful for midterms is to go on your laptop and create online flashcards. I find that very helpful,” Cotone said.