Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Is There Final Exam Week in the "Real World"?

As someone who has never left the cozy confines of academia since my days before Tom and Jerry nursery school (it was much better on the days you got to be Jerry), I am curious whether there is the equivalent to finals week out there. Every student you see this week is walking around exhausted, stressed out, pulling all-nighters because everything they've been working on (or, in some cases, not working on) for the last several months is on the line and it all comes down to their performance on a single assessment. Is there the same sort of culminating climax in other lines of work? Are there similar levels of stress? Did finals week prepare you well for it? Can you come to your big presentations unshowered and wearing pajamas?