In the mind of an exercise science major: preparation for finals at SRU

Patterson Hall, located mid-campus at SRU, home to
many exercise science classes.

Now that it is at last the end of the semester, finals week of 2012 is winding down to a close. Before we conclude yet another finals week here at the university, however, we’ll take a look at the week from the perspective of an exercise science student here at SRU. Whereas the finals of communications featured a wide variety of presentations and the finals of music showcased many different forms of performances, finals for the exercise science department focus more on vocabulary, diagrams, and terms.  Because of the nature of these finals, the exercise science department is able to adequately test competency of its students by requiring them to use skills that they'll need later on in their field. A major based off of knowledge of the human body, finals devised to test the extent of this knowledge in the form of terminology-laden exams seems fit.

Robyn discussing finals in the basement study
lounge of Bailey Library.

This week we take a look into the mind of Robyn McNyme, an 18-year old freshman exercise science major from Latrobe, PA. Though Robyn is only a freshman here at SRU, she has already been able to enter a few of her core exercise science classes at SRU.  The reason Robyn can take these classes as early as her freshman year is that she took numerous AP exams during high school,of which she passed and consequently received college credit.


In the following video, Robyn introduces herself and discusses a bit about her preparation for this year's finals week.



Below Robyn discusses her exprience with finals in the exercise science department last semester.



Now that we have seen her past studying techniques, how exactly is Robyn planning to prepare for the current finals week at hand? “Chocolate, energy drinks, and partial all-nighters at the library are getting me through this finals week”, Robyn states, as she points to her stack of books that lie on the floor. As she stated previously, a large part of the finals related to her major involve studying various terms and diagrams. Memorization and reiteration for these exams are therefore key.  As for her statistics final, Robyn can only hope for the best come examination day. “I take that final Friday, it’s my last one. Honestly, statistics is so hard,” she explains, “Every exercise science major must take it and I can say with confidence that at least 90 percent of these students don’t like the class.”

Here Robyn explains the current finals that she has for exercise science, and what she has must do in order to prepare.



Robyn's finals will be complete after she finishes her statistics exam Friday at 3:00. Afterwards, Robyn plans to pack everything up and head back to her home in Latrobe, where she intends to spend some quality time with family and friends.  Until then, she is counting down those concluding days until summer. “I love my field and all, but it’ll be nice to be able to enjoy some free time in the sun without worrying about different muscles of the body, or seeing numbers from my statistics book wherever I ago”, she jokes.

This sentiment remains the same for other students here at SRU, as studying and cramming have definitely taken their tolls. Walking through the campus, it’s difficult to spot a student that does not appear to exhibit the physical signs of finals exhaustion.

Even though some of these students will begin pre-session in just a few weeks, finals week has come to a close, and for the majority of students on campus, this calls for only one thing: celebration. For those of us that will remain in Slippery Rock for tonight and the rest of the weekend, there is no need to further explain, as we will soon not only see, but hear, just exactly what this celebration means.

Until then, congratulations to the class of 2012, and the best of luck to the graduates walking in the ceremony!