When walking around a college campus you tend to notice things, especially at OSU. You notice if people are in hurry, don't have a care in the world, or if they're really struggling with life. With finals this week, there are 10 pretty obvious signs that everyone is in the middle of it.
1. Edmond Low is jam packed with people.
ALL THE TIME. I tried to go to the library the week before Dead Week, and there was no place to sit or study anywhere. Therefore, my roommate and I opted to go to the NRC. Tip for future freshmen: don't go to the library around finals week at 9 PM. Go before or after, or simply reserve a room, because I'm telling you, it's crazy.
2. Everyone you know is staying up late.
For example, I am a night owl, and there's usually no one around when I'm walking around my sorority house at 1 AM. You know it's finals week when you walk around late at night and suddenly you see all these people you don't normally see.
3. There are books and papers EVERYWHERE.
It doesn't matter where you go or who you see, books are being opened for the first time all semester. Why you ask? Students need to cram their minds with a semester of knowledge because they probably didn't pay as much attention as they needed to in class.
4. There are either a ton of people in class, or hardly any at all.
Depending on the difficulty of the class, you may start to see people who never come to class because they're trying to learn everything before the final. However, those who normally attend class are struggling to get out of bed, because as things start to wind down, all that's left to do is study. Therefore, those classes are deserted. Either way, class is definitely different.
5. People are ALWAYS on D2L.
Gotta calculate those last minute grades to see what you need to make on the final, right?
6. Emails are being sent left and right.
Students are frantically emailing teachers about grades, extra credit, or some lame excuse for why they missed class. You name it, it's being sent. This is probably the worst time of the year for professors because their computers are blowing up with thousands of emails at a time.
7. IHOP and Whataburger becomes everyone's best friend.
What's more amazing than a midnight study snack at IHOP or Whataburger? #honeybutterchickenbiscuits
8. Caffeine is a necessity, and you will never see anyone without it.
With all of the late night studying that goes on, you start to hit the point of no return. Nothing a coffee or Red Bull can't fix, right?
9. Showering becomes optional.
The few that actually try to look nice for class even seem to crumble under the stress of finals.
10. Students are just plain angry.
Angry that we have tests, angry at professors for giving us a bad grade, angry at professors who think it's cool to give assignments and teach new material during Dead Week, and angry at professors for even having class during Dead Week. Basically, don't cross paths with college students during finals, it might not be pretty.
Although Dead Week and Finals Week are huge struggles and a pain in the butt, when it's all over, we know that we have three months of summer to look forward to. I don't know about you, but that's enough to get me through any surprise twists my professors throw at me.
