A Slammin' End of Exams

In the midst of final exams and culminating projects last week, George Zisiadis ’11 saw a problem—finishing an exam or a final paper was surprisingly anticlimactic.

“There’s no way to celebrate your accomplishment,” said Zisiadis, a sociology concentrator who lives in Adams House. “You just go and work on your next exam or paper. Why should we accept the status quo of misery? Why shouldn't each exam be a cause for celebration?”

So Zisiadis installed a unique new contraption in Adams dining hall: the Adams Examer Slammer.

Resembling a three-dimensional version of the thermometer diagrams often used to chart fundraisers’ progress, the 8-foot chicken wire tube sat beside the checker's desk for the past week, waiting for Adams residents to fill it with crumpled yellow paper balls.

To use the Examer Slammer, just follow the posted instructions:

1) Take the quill and inscribe the name of the course on the yellow paper.

2) Write a heartfelt message to your course and sign it with your name.

3) CRUMPLE IT UP!

4) Climb to the top of the Adams House Chair of Cheer, and...

5) SLAM! it in as a sign of your triumph over adversity and your success in completing your course.

“Adams House alone will conquer at least 1000 exams,” Zisiadis said, adding that the Examer Slammer allows students to view the House's collective success.

Over the course of exam period, the tube has been filled to the top. Zisiadis says he hopes to do something similar, but on an even larger scale, in the spring.

But first, Zisiadis says, he has to figure out what to do with all the crumbled yellow paper balls.

Photos by Xi Yu/The Harvard Crimson.