Narration
Last semester started out very well in my classes. I felt like I had a good understanding of all the topics, and I was getting good grades on all my assignments and quizzes. One class, in particular, was an English class. When it was the time to take my midterm for this class, I was not worried at all. I felt confident that I knew the material well enough to do well on the exam without the usual cramming or heavy studying before the test. The instructor released a study guide for the midterm, but I did not really look at it, because I was so sure that I knew all that material very well; I did not feel I needed to review the study guide.
A friend of mine, who was in the same class, visited me one evening, and he mentioned how hard the test was going to be based on the information in the study guide. We talked about it a little bit, and I realized I really should look at that study guide. It was only two days before the midterm and I had not even looked at the study guide or studied at all for the impending midterm.
When I reviewed the study guide, I panicked. There were assignments and questions that we had only briefly talked about in class. I vaguely remembered our instructor telling us that these topics would come up later and that we should be prepared for it. I did not think she had meant on the midterm! I was in a panic; I felt trapped, like there was nothing I could do as it was not enough time to study these materials for the test. I felt that my grade point average was slipping away from me. I was very upset and called my friend to talk about it. Mike told me he had studied most of it already and was willing to share his notes with me.
I called in sick to work that night and Mike came over for a study session. We studied all night, pretty much until we both passed out from exhaustion. The following day, I bought Mike breakfast and we did some more studying. When the midterm came, I was still so nervous, but I felt a lot better since Mike had helped me. I passed the test and ended the class with an A, but if it had not been for Mike, my overconfidence would have scored me an F.
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