My first differential equation midterm was today. The test is worth 25% of our final grade. I studied pretty intensely for this exam, but still left feeling like I made quite a few mistakes. There were also some tricky problems that took extra creativity, and I didn't do too well on those. May the curve spare me.

May there be a curve.

Most of the photographs today show the last minute effort a lot of my classmates made outside the lecture hall, right before the exam. They sat around in groups and tried to discuss as much math as they could, hoping to benefit as much from their hurried attempt at rote learning as they could.

The good students are the ones that arrive early, but stand around without looking at their notes or textbook. Instead, they develop clusters of cliques, discussing the latest anime episodes or programming assignments in hushed voices.

After the exam it seems like the whole lecture hall lingers around directly outside the doors, talking about the exam questions and wailing in agony every time the majority of their "cluster" of "discussers" agrees on an answer to a problem that differs from their own.

I was unfortunate enough to briefly participate in such a cluster, and did quite a few groans and moans myself. I hate looking back on exams and realizing that I made glaring mistakes. Mistakes always seem so much more obvious in retrospect.