Finals ... why?

So here I am killing over because I'm not sure if I can EXACTLY remember how to doubley integrate the polynomial that needs to be converted to spherical coordinates, or how to write a function in C++ language that uses a recursive call, or what embotellamiento "really" means in spanish. We work and stress and study for 4 long months of the year, yet only have 2 measly hours to answer 10 questions that covers about 1/50 of what we've learned. I've never been known to test well. In fact, my parents probably thought I was a "problem child" in elementary school because I couldn't score above a 10% in listening nor reading. And the scary thing is, finals are usually 30-40% of your final grade in college; but why?

Sure, finals test your knowledge of what you've learned ... but even more, test your abilities to cram as much of the info that's been thrown at you for the past months into your head for at least a couple of hours so that your life doesn't completely fall apart from losing your scholarship or gpa. One slight miss of the note-cramming could end up giving you a C in the class, which leads to a poor gpa and less chance of getting a great job, and without a job you can say goodbye to trying to support a large family, living happily ever after with that special someone is no longer an option, and life as we know it is completely ruined. All because of finals? Yes, and the injustice must be stopped now before I waste anymore time venting on this blog.

Moral of the story: Finals week stinks.