Charlie Melville
Charlie Melville
Last semester was my first semester here at State, and when final exams rolled around I was in the library 24/7. I had no idea the reading day even existed until it was reading day, and even then I wasn’t entirely sure what it was.
I asked my friend, and when he said it was a study day, my first question was, “Why is it in the middle of the week?” By that point I had already finished my most difficult exam, so I had tried to shove as much study time into the weekend as possible.
As of fall 2016, the designated reading day — a day dedicated to study time for exams — was moved from before exam week to the middle of exam week. According to Student Services, the change “allow[s] students a break to study and re-energize during the full week of exams.”
It’s true that it could be beneficial to have a break in the middle of exam week, if you use reading day as a break. But what about those of us who use the reading day as a much-needed study day, like you’re supposed to do? It is called a reading day after all, and a survey of NC State students showed that 87 percent of students used the reading day to study for their exams. Thus, having it prior to exam week would allow those students to study for exams that occur earlier in the week.
My very first exam is on Monday, May 1. It’s a Calculus III exam, and by far the most stressful test I have to take. I prefer to use the reading day as a study day as opposed to a break day. For this reason, I would rather have the reading day before exams; this way students who have their most difficult exam first thing on Monday can feel better prepared.
There are some of us who prefer to take the reading day in the middle of the week as a rest day, but still need time to study. To solve this issue, perhaps we could have one reading day before exams and a separate reading/rest day in the middle of the week.
A survey of NC State students done by Holly Swart in 2011 revealed that 61 percent of students thought that having not just one, but two reading days would be the most ideal, and I agree. It would give students ample time to study and catch up on sleep.
Another potential issue that comes up with reading day is that every year it’s on the same day as Senior Design day. Sure, it means that there are no exam conflicts for the students who have to participate in Senior Design day. However, it also creates a problem if they have an exam the following day, because those students have to spend the majority of reading day working on their Senior Design Projects.
A better alternative would be to have a separate day for Senior Design projects altogether; this way seniors could focus all of their attention on the task at hand. With the stress of exams and preparation for graduation, seniors hardly need another reason to be stressed. I’m sure a well-deserved reading day would be in the seniors’ best interest.
So, for the sake of the seniors and for the student population in general, reading days should be rescheduled. The most beneficial option would be to have one reading day before exam week, and one reading or rest day in the middle of exam week. Maybe then we could get the study time and the energy in, so we could really excel on our final exams.