Finals Week and Final Post

This week was the dreaded finals week. It is stressful every year, no matter where you are, or what you are studying. Luckily, I only had two online final exams, and the others were papers or projects which were interesting to complete. Studying for these exams was pretty difficult and sad. One of them was for my Baroque Art and Architecture class with Professor Elizabeth Lev. Every time we had class, I was interested in the art pieces, but kept thinking about how much better and easier studying would have been if we could have visited the monuments, churches, and galleries where the artwork is actually displayed. But, she did an amazing job making online class feel as much like we were there in person as possible. She did voiceovers, similar to what we had in class, for our weekly lessons. The final was pretty difficult and encompassed a lot of material. I put a lot of time towards studying for this exam, and it made me wonder how I would have done coping with finals week if we were still abroad. I spent the majority of the past two days preparing for this one, making PowerPoints, studying vocab, quizzing myself on artists and dates of famous pieces. If we were still in Rome, I wonder if I would have been able to dedicate as much time to studying as I am now. I think I did well on these exams because I felt prepared, but I might not have with the wonderful distractions that come with being abroad. I don’t think I would have come to this realization, or even have this thought, if it were not for the current situation. I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this topic recently, and how being home might have actually helped me with some classes as much as I hate to admit it. But, I’ve also come to learn that learning about all of these fantastic places always means more when you’re actually there.