Midterms at Iowa State are coming and going for most students. Students take advantage of the Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions at ISU to help them with exams during this stressful time. SI is a support program that provides student-led study sessions by those who have already passed that class.
Barbara Bekavac, a first-year in kinesiology, says there’s a big difference from test taking at ISU compared to high school.
“It’s definitely a shift from high school,” Bekavac said. “I’d say it’s really hard, not gonna lie; I’m at the library all night, I feel. I would say in high school, I was not stressed at all, like it was a joke, and now I’m really stressed out.”
She also says that she was not fully knowledgeable about tests at ISU.
“I didn’t really know what I was getting into because, in high school, we had retakes,” Bekavac said. “You could retake every single test, and that’s not a thing here.”
This stress for her, however, has been curbed due to SI sessions.
“I’ve been going to a bunch of SI sessions when I can so I can get the help that I need,” Bekavac said.
Bekavac says she would like to know more stress-easing resources at ISU.
“If I knew about something that would help with the stress, that’d be nice,” Bekavac said.
Parker Meyer, a first-year in mechanical engineering, acknowledged that midterms can be stressful, but the stress goes away after the test.
“It’s a little bit stressful sometimes, but you just sit there, and you study the stuff that you need to know, and then you take a test, and then it’s over,” Meyer said. “Leading up to it, it can be really stressful, like walking to where your exam is, my heart is beating, but once I sit down and I start taking it, I’m just chill, locked in.”
Despite his studying, he says he didn’t often in high school.
“I wish that I actually knew how much I needed to study beforehand because I didn’t study too much in high school,” Meyer said. “But at least for my first couple exams, I started two weekends out, just to make sure, and my results were pretty good.”
Meyer also appreciates the SI sessions.
“Those are really nice, just to kind of regroup all my knowledge and refresh it,” Meyer said.
More information about SI sessions can be found here, and for more information on mental health resources at Iowa State, visit here.
