Written by Stephanie G Healy
The library is packed with students pouring over notes, the computer labs full of eager students scrolling down the screen, the dorms full of students wide-awake and burying themselves in their books, and even in the cafeteria textbooks peek out of backpacks.You’ve guessed it. Finals are finally here at Harding University.”I think I’m ready. I feel like my tests are spaced out enough so I have enough time to study for all of them,” said freshman Hannah Allen. “I have five. Wellness, Music, American History, Intro To Social Work, and New Testament. [They’re] every day.”On top of finals, Allen plays soccer for Harding University, is a member of one ofHarding University’ssocial clubs (Zeta Rho), and-somehow- still manages to have a social life. Yet Allen is not alone. This is the story for many of Harding University’s student body.So, what happens during Dead Week (the week prior to finals) and Finals? Does all student life stop? Do clubs continue to meet and teachers give assignments? Or does Harding seem vacent as students diligently study indoors?”I’ve decided that Dead Week isn’t really dead at all,” Sears Resident Assistant Laura Burgess wrote on her Facebook status. “It’s very much alive!”Burgess is exactly right. Teachers still have class, students still have assignments, and clubs still have mandatory meetings Monday evening during Dead Week. But, is this normal for universities? Or do other universities cancel class and extracurriecular activities the week before finals?Well, as it turns out, it’s not uncommon for classes or even social activities to continue during Dead Week. For instance, both Harvard University and Berkeley University are allowing professors to schedule class if class was canceled earlier in the semester. Yet as theDaily Californianaquotes, Berkeley mandates “there will be no traditional classes or lectures during the five-day period; nor should instructors introduce any new material [during dead week]”.However, according to theWashburn Reviewthe “University of Florida, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M” all canceled classes during dead week thus gave their students more time to study and prepare for the finals. In comparison, this dead week Harding University has only canceled open house at the men’s dorm Tuesday night.”I feel very unprepared,” said sophmore Angela DeCamp. “Last year, I spent a lot of time. I haven’t studied yet for finals.”
