Well, with Easter out of the way it's time to focus on everyone's favorite time of the year: finals. Yes, the most stressful time for any student is right around the corner, and everyone's either frantic about maintaining that 4.0 GPA or at the point in the semester where they just don't care whether or not they ace that final and just want to pass. In order to reduce the stress of finals a tad bit ahead of time, there are several ways you can prepare for finals in a healthy manner without having to stress over the work the night before the test or presentation.
1. Create a study guide
One of the best ways to prepare is to create a study guide based on your lecture notes, the readings, and the in-class reviews. This can help narrow down the material to what you really need to know. Speaking of in-class reviews...
2. Attend the review session
Taking a mental health day is alright, but that mental health day should not be used on a review session for a final (if applicable). That should be the time you make clarifications about the material on the final.
3. Ask questions
If you have any questions regarding the material, ask them when you have the chance. Your professors and TA's are there to help you.
4. Don't wait until the last minute
One of the biggest reasons why everyone gets so stressed out about finals is because they tend to wait until the last minute. This can be avoided by starting as early as you possibly can and taking an hour out of your day to study. This can help with stress a lot because you will feel ready once the day of the final comes.
5. Organize a study group
Do you have friends in the class that would help you understand the material you're having a hard time understanding? Then you can get a few friends together to do a study group once a week at the library. Depending on where you go to school, there may also be tutoring hours and study hours that many organizations may do during the weeks before finals.
6. Keep a close eye out on your own mental health
One of the most important things to remember during finals week is to keep track of your mental health and take care of yourself. Poor mental health can result in doing poorly on the final exams.
7. Create a study schedule (and follow it)
This correlates to #4 since sticking with a schedule can help a lot with not waiting until the last minute to finish assignments or study. A schedule can help you get organized.
8. Quiz yourself
If you have index cards nearby, you can quiz yourself by creating flash cards (a classic, but a great way to quiz yourself) to see if you know the material.
9. Reorganize your notes
If studying your notes is giving you a hard time understanding the material, that may be a sign that you need to reorganize your notes. Nobody wants to start studying and ending up noticing that their notes are more disorganized than they thought.
10. Make it fun
Remember when we were middle and high school, and the day before a test we would often have a Jeopardy game as a review? Well, that may a fun way to review the material on your own. Or if you have other fun ways to review the material, go for it!
