Term End Exams
As my kids were taking their final exams this week and wrapping up the school year, it brought back distinct memories of final exams at West Point and what that was like.
First of all, West Point doesn’t have final exams. It has Term End Exams, or TEEs. (West Point, like the Army, has to have a weird term and acronym for everything.)
Believe it or not, West Point was most like a “regular” college during exams. Why? Because a lot of the military stuff was kind of put on hold. We were allowed to keep our rooms in permanent PMI (PM Inspection), as opposed to AMI (AM Inspection) in the morning and PMI afterwards. And there was certainly no SAMI (Saturday Morning Inspection, THE most stringent form of inspection that usually happened each… Saturday morning) to worry about. Plus, meals were all optional and we didn’t have to march anywhere and we had fewer formations. We were also allowed to stay up later and hang out in more casual uniforms (Gym Alpha and sweats, mostly) in the barracks. Plebes got hazed less and were pretty much left alone; the upperclassmen had more important things to worry about – like studying for their own final exams. We would get together in groups and study and go over material. They would bring snacks to the company area – hot water for cocoa and coffee and cookies or other snacks. We were pretty much left alone most of the time to study and take our exams.
The exams were three hours long, and you could certainly have more than one exam per day. It would just really depend on what courses you were taking and how the schedule played out.
For most people, final exams week was the time to cram in everything you were supposed to have learned all semester long but never really did. Or it was a time to go over facts and figures and dates and make sure you had everything memorized. There was a lot of “spec and dump” mentality. You only needed to know stuff for the final exam, and then you could forget it. Usually there was a LOT of material covered in any one term in any one course, so there was a lot to review and go over.
This was a very stressful, high pressure, adrenaline- and caffeine-fueled time, but it was also, curiously, very relaxed and laid back, militarily. I actually really enjoyed final exams week. Not having to take the final exams, but how everything else was more relaxed and laid back so we could focus on studying. Or staying up late. Or just bull shitting in the hallways or in our rooms.
I guess you could say final exams week was the least military time of the year. So, that was why we thought it was more like what “regular” colleges were like, not that most of us really had any idea what “regular” colleges were like.
I think it is kind of odd, in retrospect, that final exam time, probably THE most stressful time at “regular” colleges, was for us what we considered the time most like what a regular college was like.
First of all, West Point doesn’t have final exams. It has Term End Exams, or TEEs. (West Point, like the Army, has to have a weird term and acronym for everything.)
Believe it or not, West Point was most like a “regular” college during exams. Why? Because a lot of the military stuff was kind of put on hold. We were allowed to keep our rooms in permanent PMI (PM Inspection), as opposed to AMI (AM Inspection) in the morning and PMI afterwards. And there was certainly no SAMI (Saturday Morning Inspection, THE most stringent form of inspection that usually happened each… Saturday morning) to worry about. Plus, meals were all optional and we didn’t have to march anywhere and we had fewer formations. We were also allowed to stay up later and hang out in more casual uniforms (Gym Alpha and sweats, mostly) in the barracks. Plebes got hazed less and were pretty much left alone; the upperclassmen had more important things to worry about – like studying for their own final exams. We would get together in groups and study and go over material. They would bring snacks to the company area – hot water for cocoa and coffee and cookies or other snacks. We were pretty much left alone most of the time to study and take our exams.
The exams were three hours long, and you could certainly have more than one exam per day. It would just really depend on what courses you were taking and how the schedule played out.
For most people, final exams week was the time to cram in everything you were supposed to have learned all semester long but never really did. Or it was a time to go over facts and figures and dates and make sure you had everything memorized. There was a lot of “spec and dump” mentality. You only needed to know stuff for the final exam, and then you could forget it. Usually there was a LOT of material covered in any one term in any one course, so there was a lot to review and go over.
This was a very stressful, high pressure, adrenaline- and caffeine-fueled time, but it was also, curiously, very relaxed and laid back, militarily. I actually really enjoyed final exams week. Not having to take the final exams, but how everything else was more relaxed and laid back so we could focus on studying. Or staying up late. Or just bull shitting in the hallways or in our rooms.
I guess you could say final exams week was the least military time of the year. So, that was why we thought it was more like what “regular” colleges were like, not that most of us really had any idea what “regular” colleges were like.
I think it is kind of odd, in retrospect, that final exam time, probably THE most stressful time at “regular” colleges, was for us what we considered the time most like what a regular college was like.
posted by delta at 9:12 PM
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