The Lycanthropy that is Tests!

Its amazing how Mid-terms (or Finals, or Standardized Tests of any kind really) can turn otherwise normal people into stark raving lunatics! Mid-terms are just barely starting (our first one is on Thursday) yet already my classmates are beginning to act like its the full moon and their "other half" is a "Psychotic and Deranged Type-A Personality Berserker."

You would think these MBA students would know how to handle stress, or at least to hide the fact that they are stressed out, but no, that is not the case at all. Oh, they think they hide it well, dont get me wrong there; but they are wrong. If you know where to look, and how to look, you can find the telltale signs of their Berserker tendencies coming out. For example, for the past couple of weeks the teams (yes we have teams here in the MBA program) have been working well together and everything has seemed fine. Now, however, the teams are more heated in their "discussions," almost to the point of them coming to blows!

I have seen this mostly in my own team, and in my friends' teammates. When I am discussing something with my teammates and they dont like what Im saying, I can see their eyes start to turn red and their face shadows over. I can just imagine them turning into some Mr. Hyde/The Hulk hybrid and bodily picking me up by the throat while yelling, "YOU WILL DO WHAT I SAY, YOU PUNY SCRAWNY MAN!!" Ahh, the wonders of dealing with other peoples' stress patterns.

On a related topic, I still havnt been getting much sleep. This is mostly my own fault because Im still operating under the mistaken assumption that I can do this MBA thing and still have a normal "outside the MBA" life as well. Im starting to believe that I am wrong; oh so wrong indeed. It is turning out that the MBA has been sucking away every moment of my day. I get up and am in class by 8am. I work all day to get my stuff done, homework, assignments, papers, etc., and then I come home, take a half hour break or so and then get back to work trying to finish the rest of the assignments for the day. Most days I get most of the work done, but its a rare and wonderful day when I actually get everything done.

Now, by the time I finish all my stuff, its invariably about 10 pm (or thats about the time I quit for the day, done or not). Then, if I were operating under a different set of assumptions, I would read my scriptures, shower and go to bed. Instead, I decide that I can spend a few hours doing the things I like to do (like I always do when I get home from work for the day). This basically means that I play till about 1 am, knowing full well that I have to get up at 7 am. This is very bad for me, but I havnt been able to kick the habit.

The reason why I say its bad is because I wake up tired, spend most of my day feeling tired and run down, and then I get home do it all over again. Its a vicious cycle I tell you!!!

Oh well, these Mid-terms will probably kick me from this habit right quick. Talk about being scared straight! Well, "Whatever works" right?!

Wish me luck people!