By Catherine Ahmad It’s 9 P.M. on a Sunday night and you’re beginning to debate that third cup of coffee. You are still working on your history reading, but you’ve got a test to take. Sleeping in on Saturday left you with limited options today. You choose to head over to TMC at 10 once you’ve completed the rest of your homework. As you sit down to begin your exam at 10 o’clock, you realize that your brain is dead after a long day of work. If only you had the ability to come earlier that day to take the exam.

In an attempt to provide students more flexibility while taking foreign language based tests, professors have turned to the technology of the Tucker Multimedia Center. On the surface, TMC helps both pupils and faculty by giving students more time to take exams, while consequently avoiding taking up precious class time. In theory, the concept sounds helpful, but in practice, there are issues with this system.

The weekday hours on Monday through Thursday are fairly flexible, offering hours from 8 A.M. to midnight for students to take their exams. However, it is the weekend hours that have been causing the student body unneeded stress and aggravation. On Saturday, TMC opens its doors from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. On the following day, Sunday, the TMC has availability from 7 P.M. to midnight. These hours are not very suitable for most college students, who often like to sleep in on Saturday and, as a result, are unable (or unwilling) to complete their graded assignments on that day. This leaves them with only the option of taking their test late on a Sunday evening. Furthermore, since weekend time slots are so limited, there is often a large influx of students all trying to take their exams on Sunday night in a computer lab with limited seats. Students, consequently, have to plan their weekend around these set times, causing unnecessary anxiety.

Amberly Wang ’18, who currently takes Japanese, wishes that the TMC offered more flexible weekend hours so that she can work around her schedule more. Maren Lundgren ’18 echoes these same sentiments stating, “The problem is that no one is willing to take the test on Saturday between 10 and 1 because people are either sleeping, or if they are not sleeping, they are just getting up. If they are just getting up, then they still want to study a little bit before the test.”

Considering all of these factors, extending the TMC Saturday and Sunday hours would make a significant difference for students. If this strategy is not possible due to the need for additional employees at the center, move the Saturday hours to later in the day or move the Sunday hours to earlier in the day. By doing so, students would gain increased flexibility and would not have to wait until 7 P.M. on a Sunday to begin an assessment. If this were to happen, the TMC would function in a manner that is more suitable to all parties involved.