It’s 12pm. The clock chimes and over 1000 people scramble into their school-desk seat, writing utensils out, photo ID ready. Poised to begin Hogwarts-I mean- UCD exams.
The Irish way of learning is slightly different than back home. First of all, studying is kept at minimal levels during the 12 weeks of lectures. This means that up until a week ago I have spent all of two hours outside of class studying International Food Marketing. To be fair, this is probably two more hours than any other person has spent on it, seeing as how I am American- and like to think studying during the term will get me somewhere. In truth, that two hours could have been utilised doing something else entirely- but I like to spout random facts to anyone who will listen- and have found my knowledge of where, how, and when to find different foods has come in handy given any disscussions that take place among the Americans. So it wasn’t a complete waste.
I distinctly remember a warning on my first full day in Ireland: “Irish students don’t study during the term; then they cram. Don’t fall into this trap.” Realistically, one cannot blame them since the system has been designed to do exactly this- there is absolutely nothing to study until it’s time to force everything learned in at once because the exam is worth 100% of the grade. Honestly, I think it works because I now have a thorough understanding of everything I had up to this point, barely processed.
In Oregon, studying means nine weeks of a quiet build-up to tenth week, where little sleep occurs and papers, projects, and studying are all completed in what little time is left. By finals week, there is hardly anything left to do aside from drag oneself out of bed and show up to the classroom.
Not so at UCD. Here there is a true “dead week” where campus is anything but. After witnessing three months of the laid-back Irish non-studying habit, it comes as a shock to see everyone (and I do mean the entire school) in the library- where it takes a good 20 minutes to find a seat and one camps out for 8-10 hours at a time. This occurs for at least seven days straight, the last of which one wakes up to have absolutely nothing to look forward to after showering- and can only hold onto one’s sanity during the multiple tea breaks which occur outside the library with the rest of the student population. At this point exams begin to take place.
They are a bit more official than the exams at home. And when I say this I’m under-exaggerating. Held at a remote location that takes at least 20 minutes to get to via bus, there are two very large halls with thousands of seats, large boards with seat numbers, and official-looking administrators walking the rows, watching every move. Large clocks that chime and an official announcer all add to the fun of this strangely charming rendition of Harry Potter exams. Two hours are alloted, every answer is in essay form, and then easily enough- it’s all over and one is free to slump back to the UCD library and begin studying for the next one. Along with the rest of the school. Scratch that. It’s time for (another) tea break.
