Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Exam Week




It's time for final exams on the Vanderbilt campus.


That's a topic (much like the photo above) that probably still brings back less than pleasant memories for many of us even 35 years later.


So, Class of '73 members, what was the worst test or exam you ever took at VU?


What was your least favorite class?


Do you still have nightmares about showing up for class and finding out you'd forgotten to study for a test that day?


Or have you ever dreamed you just forgot you had signed up for a class, and when you did show up there was an exam being given?


How about that dream of showing up for class naked or in your underwear? (and don't tell I am the only one with unresolved issues here) :)


Let's also look on the positive side:


What was your favorite class and/or teacher while you were at Vanderbilt?


What were the classes you really hated to skip (I really want to hear about those)?


And what former professors would you really like to see again?


You know as a part of our Reunion this fall (October 24-25) there'll be a chance to meet with the faculty at a reception late on Friday afternoon. While a somewhat disturbing number of our instructors have retired or taken emeritus status, if you tell us who you'd like to see, we will do our best to try and see if we can get them to attend the reception.


How that's for trying to get some extra credit for you to come back for our 35th Reunion!


Just please leave your memories and thoughts by clicking on the comments link below.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

My favorite (?) nightmare of missing a final exam became a reality in May of 1972. I always figured the best class to skip every semester was the class after an exam.

Late in the semester we had an exam in Electrical Network Theory.
I figured I had done reasonably well on the test so I took the next class off...then it seems I took the next class off too.

That was okay because there was only one class remaining until the final and Dr. Cook would use that class to review for the final.

Much to my surprise the rest of the class was turning in the take home final exam, they had been working on for a week! Dr. Cook looked at me with an impish grin, and told me,
"Mr. Womack, I don't care if you are a campus celebrity. You need to show up for class. Your classmates have had a week to work on their final exam, you have 24 hours from right now!"

That was a pretty hectic 24 hours, but somehow I managed to get all but one problem on the exam correct and salvage a "B" by the skin of my teeth in the class!

Steve Womack
Wrvu73@Cox.net

Unknown said...

Actually Pat you may be the only one with all those unresolved problems.

I used to have a dream (nightmare) where I opened up some sort of math exam in which all the questions were written in some foreign language using an alphabet I couldn't recognize.

In 1983 I was a third year student at Vandy's Divinity School. That was the year they were doing construction on the Engineering building and several Engineering classes were transfered to classrooms at the D-School.

One day I sat down in my systematic theology class and there on the board was my nightmare in the flesh!

Half the board was filled with Hebrew writings from the 8AM Hebrew class that had been held there that morning. The other half of the board was differential equations from the Diff. E. class that had met there at 10 AM.

I laughed out loud, realizing that aside from the Jewish engineering students, I was the only other person on campus who could read both sides of the board!

I had faced my greatest fear, and conquered it! I never worried about a test again!

Steve Womack
Wrvu73@Cox.net