As finals week approaches, I often catch myself prepping for the stressful times ahead. Things I will, inevitably, end up doing to give myself a better shot at passing my tests are things I would normally never do to myself or to my friends. It requires careful planning and a fierce amount of coordination to keep myself balanced, as I know I will, without a doubt;
1. Wall yourself off in a study room for hours
The spots I usually pick for high-quality study time are places that let me shut out the rest of the world. Normally, this would be my room, but around finals week it sometimes becomes difficult to do that, given that my bed is in there. The best spots for me are quiet, roomy areas that let me spread out my study stuff. Library, lobby rooms, study rooms, unlocked classrooms are usually best. It helps to have a little elbow room so I can prevent avalanches of study materials.
2. Pretend you're friendless
I also cannot associate with people during finals week. I become twitchy thinking about the clock ticking away when I still have 12 chapters to cover in 4 hours. Indeed, my social reclusiveness knows no bounds during finals week.
3. Question your life choices
These moments, when they happen, can also be a source of profound insight into your own personality. Last year, while writing an overly-long study guide (9 pages!) for a Biochemistry class at 1 in the morning, I asked myself if I would be okay if I just gave up and went into the final with all the knowledge I had, guns blazing. Somehow, that calmed me down and got me to accept fate and go to sleep. I actually forgot what grade I got, but I know it wasn’t all that bad. These are the times that try you, so pay attention to how you react.
4. Live out of your mini fridge
In the past, it was common for me to live almost exclusively off of food from our college’s equivalent of McD’s, Joe’s. In recent times, it has become common for me to buy all my snacks in advance and keep them stored in my fridge. Now, I have almost no need to trudge—pajama-bottomed—out of my dorm anymore to get my precious cheese sticks and yogurt. I guess that’s what you could call learning.
5. Become angry and doubtful
When you come to the end, you expect yourself to know it all. You might think, sure, I’ve done all these problems before, this should all be a walk in the part. I paid to become educated, right? How did I do? Was my money well spent? Then, you hit the first practice problem and realize that you might have been a little arrogant waiting till three days before the final to study for your cumulative exam. Since it is hard to remember in times of stress, gentle reader, I want to tell you all that you are not stupid, and you are absolutely capable of passing this exam. College requires you to layer your lessons on top of each other which can make it difficult to recall old concepts with perfect accuracy. I think looking through my notes helps me the best.
Here’s some of my best advice: do what you can to prepare, all the while reminding yourself that what you do IS good enough. Get some sleep, and avoid overdoing it on the coffee! Finally, you should totally color a picture! Trust me, it helps to focus on something besides homework before you switch to another topic. Try coloring in the stress mountain below if you'd like!
