I'm so ready...

...for the end of the semester.

It's been a trying semester for me (although I probably think that at the end of every semester).  Two of my classes aren't going as well as I'd hoped--water/wastewater engineering and environmental history (of course!).  I spent hours on a midterm paper for environmental history, and I got a B+.  I was really hoping for an A on that one.  I had even spoken to a TA and received some feedback before submitting my paper, so I figured I would do very well.  The TAs grade everything, and I'd spoken to them about my grade on my midterm exam, the exam I studied hours and hours for and felt I would receive an A (I got a D--a fucking D!!!). One of the TAs said that he can't believe the professor requires as much detail on these exams as he does, and that he never had this kind of class in undergrad.  And this is a freshman-level history class!  I've taken college-level history classes before, and did quite well in all of them.  After talking to the TAs, they gave me back enough points to get a C+, which I still wasn't happy with, but I didn't want them to give me a grade they didn't think I deserved, so I didn't push it.

(Side note: one of the essays we had to write required that we write out the "three levels" of environmental history and explain them.  It's practically the thesis of the class.  I did so on my essay, but the guy who sits next to me couldn't remember all three, so he wrote out two and put a line for the third level, saying "can't remember :)".  Literally, with the smiley face.  And he received a better grade than I did.  Are you freaking kidding me?  The grades are so subjective and arbitrary.  It drives me freaking crazy.)

Anyway, so once I received the grade for the paper, I decided that I'm sick and tired of talking to the TAs about this because it's getting me nowhere, so I wrote to the professor instead.  I doubt it'll get me anywhere either, but I'd rather try.  I've never had to fight so hard for a grade.  In fact, I don't believe I've ever contested any grade before in my life.

Sigh.  Is this semester over yet?  Two and a half more weeks, two and a half more weeks, two and a half more weeks, two and a half more weeks...