"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

'Tis the season. Rather, 'tis that part of the semester. Massive projects appear and weeks of the syllabi are crammed into shorter intervals. Everyone has concerts--or the non-musical version of concerts, and FINALS are mere days away.

It's my favorite time of the semester. No, really, it is.

I love finals, and the two weeks before finals is the best period of the semester.

I'm assuming that once everyone has recovered from shock and my statement they are assuming one, some, or all of these statements.

--I read and store all my syllabi, so that I am never surprised by an assignment.

--I do all my projects exactly three weeks in advance.

--I have a penchant for punishment.

--I am a vampire and have no need for sleep.

--I've never held a job while in school.

Truthfully, I lose almost everything professors hand out in class. Thankfully, it's 2011, and almost everyone posts nearly everything online. If they don't, I give them a scathing review.

I'm notorious for turning assignments in within a minute of it being late--literally. I love midnight deadlines; they're so exciting.

I'm no narcissist. I won't even read most Russian literature--too depressing. Negative on the punishment lover.

Vampire....

And finally, I've worked nearly 40 hours a week and gone to school full time. I used to do my homework on my break from work. I know how to multi-task.

So what's my secret... Why do I love finals?

There's two reasons. One is inspirational and the other is just awesome.

My first year of finals was supposed to be the first semester of my junior year of high school (at Bob Jones Academy). (I was homeschooled in the no-final fashion for the previous academic years of my life.) I was fairly concerned as I had never experienced finals before, and no idea what to expect. My roommate, who was a nursing student and a junior in college, offered me some sage advice. She told me, "Finals is the easiest time of the semester. It's when I relax. I've already learned anything; it's just time for review." Savvy advice, and true.

My canny roommate's advice comprehended, I was still nervous. I was in a Chemistry class that I had no business being in, and taking a final in that class could have proved fatal.

And then a miracle happened. The campus was partially quarantined for Pertussis. Yes, whooping cough saved the day. Slowly, sections of the campus were exempted from finals. As an academy student living in the dorms, I was one of the first excused from finals. They wanted us out as fast as possible. I was particularly delighted with this outbreak, as I had already contracted and dealt with whooping cough in the beginning of that year, and was in no danger of being infected again.

So, in my first year of taking finals, I was rescued from academic death by a campus-wide outbreak. After that semester, I saw finals as something that could easily be vanquished, either by my intellect or by a disease.

Yes, the end of the semester is so busy and we all are running around sleepy and stressed...but we are also the most productive. We learn the most in these two weeks; we accomplish the most. We make the most of our tuition. We are tested on what we have already learned, and if all seems dire, we can pray for a non-fatal disease outbreak. No day is boring. The time of sitting in class, listening to a lecture and doodling (ahem, taking notes) is past. We have assignments that must be done in class, or events that must be planned. It is stressful; it is exciting. And it is over quickly.