Thank you so much jmoses! The best input I can give you is dedication. You have to dedicate time to do your readings without any distractions. Material I do not understand I read aloud to myself. Hearing the material sometimes help me understand it better and definitely remember. Any one can get a 4.0, you just have to work very hard to keep it.
The semester exam should be okay. I think that looking over the ones we took for each lesson will serve as a review. If you can print them out or even save them on your computer where you can sit and review them should help a lot.
I am still confused about the Proctor thing. If it is open book, then why the need of a Proctor. For someone to sit with you for 3 hours and you are able to look at your books it not worth it for them.
Again, thanks for your kind thoughts and prayers. I need a lot of prayers to help me cope because it is harder by the day, not easier like they say. When you lose someone you love, it is not easy to deal with it.