As finals season rolls around, you begin to panic. You told yourself this wouldn't happen again, but it did. You didn't learn from last year's mistakes. You don't know how time could have possibly flown by quickly. You're freaking out and your only comfort is every single person around you is in the same boat, and somehow you will all make it through. Correct me if I'm wrong, but finals season seems to go a little something like this:

1. “I’m going to start studying early!”

You say it every single time, but you never follow through. You want to, and you are positive you will after your last miserable experience. You plan to start studying for finals over Thanksgiving break, but finals aren’t for another month so...you still have time!

2. “Wait...August was this semester?”

While sitting in class, you slowly begin to recall that all the material that you thought was from a lifetime ago will, in fact, make a reappearance! All the cramming and finessing your way through those tests is about to come back to bite you hard. This is when you start regretting not opening up that textbook when you had time to spare.

3. “Christmas is soon which means finals are even sooner...”

You made vacation plans to go visit family, and as the holidays approach, your countdown begins. Unfortunately, you realize you will never be sitting around the tree and opening gifts with your family until after you somehow make it through finals.

4. “Oh no, only one more week...”

This is when you decide to make a plan because you definitely will not be studying for the final the night before. You take a few hours that you could have been studying to make a colorfully highlighted agenda for yourself: Chemistry on Saturday at Starbucks, history on Sunday at your best friend’s house and Spanish after dinner Monday night. You do everything you can to mentally prepare yourself to stick to this plan, but deep down inside, you know what’s really going to happen.

5. “It’s the weekend before finals!”

You have accomplished nothing, but it’s okay because you’re really going to crack down this weekend! The studying will begin right after school Friday evening and continue on for every second of the weekend.

6. “But I can’t do well if I don’t have a LITTLE fun...”

You plan to go grab a quick lunch with a friend and take a small study break, but before you know it, it has been four hours and you’re on the other side of town, far from home and your textbooks.

7. “The final is tomorrow!!!”

Sure, this is the most productive you’ve ever been in your entire life. You get a lot of studying accomplished, and you impress yourself with the miraculous work ethic you suddenly develop. Sadly, you can’t help but wonder how much better it would be if you had this work ethic for the last few days.

8. “I need coffee.”

Whether it’s to stay up and study or to pick you up in the morning when you’re falling over, coffee becomes a necessity at this point in your journey.

9. “If a get a 30% on this final, I’ll still pass the class!”

It’s 3:00 a.m. and you pull out the RogerHub final exam calculator because it’s hopeless at this point! As long as you show up to the final to guess on the questions, you should still be able to pass the class. After all, Christmas treeing the multiple choice is just your attempt at getting into the holiday spirit!

10. “I’m crying.”

You may or may not actually be crying, but you might as well be. You pray, perform your good luck rituals, hug your friend and brace yourself for the horror that you’re about to face.

Now that you’ve lost your precious time reading this, at least don’t let it go to waste. Learn from your mistakes, and go start studying right now. Even if you could have started earlier, it’s never too late. Take care of yourself and best of luck this finals season!