Ahhhh, the most dreadful week of the semester has arrived and everyone is breaking their heads freaking out about the upcoming final exams. Nobody likes to study for the exams, but in college if you want to pass then you must do so. It’s even more horrible for the people who haven’t really been paying attention throughout the semester or just had a bad professor because it involves trying to learn everything at once which is the worst! While studying is a tedious process, I’ve decided to share some tips or reminders to help cope with the stress and anxiety that comes with studying:
1. Take breaks in between studying.
Relieving your brain after an intense 20-50 minutes of studying is super helpful, that way your brain can retain the information while you’re enjoying a small snack or just from the time off.
2. Make you sure you eat well, sleep well, and stay hydrated.
Keeping your physical and mental health in check is always super important in performing well on exams. If both aren’t intact, then you won’t remember anything and will just do poorly or not as you expected which leads to disappointment in the end.
3. Exercise!
It’s a great way to keep you energized, motivated, and your brain active in order to take in all the information necessary for the exams.
4. Study the material as if you were to teach it.
Pretending like you’re going to teach or explain the material to someone else is such an efficient strategy to study! You are more likely to pay more attention to detail and ask yourself whether something is important or not when “teaching” or “explaining” the subject.
5. Use flashcards.
Using this method is not for every subject, but it can be very useful when the subject involves numerous terms to memorize. It’s always much easier to test yourself this way.
6. Rewrite your notes.
Reviewing and rewriting notes is always a great strategy because your brain will constantly have to remember what you’re writing which always helps to retain the information.
7. Quiz yourself.
Making sure that you actually learned the information is important which is why it’s always crucial to test yourself after each study session. You've got to make sure that you’re studying is actually paying off.
8. Listen to music.
Everybody has different music tastes so listening to classical music will not help everyone, so listen to the music that will help you personally. I know that for me I can’t study with music, it’s a distraction, but if it works for you then go right ahead.
9. Disconnect yourself.
When you’re studying, TURN OFF ALL NOTIFICATIONS! Don’t be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, or any app on your phone when you are in the middle of a study session. Keep your priorities straight, exams are more important right now than drama and gossip.
10. RELAX!
I understand that this is Hell Week, but don’t over stress about it. You’ll be fine and you’ll get through this just remember that life goes on. It's not the end of the world. I don’t want to encourage lower grades, but remember that C’s get degrees.
P.S. Once you walk out of those exams, go treat yourself because you deserve it! You made it through another finals week and semester! Congrats! Time to enjoy that long awaited break!
