The semester is winding down, your brain is filled with information, swirling around, seeking an outlet and a semblance of making sense. Coursework is completed and turned in to the Professor. Now the real moment of truth is about to happen. All that knowledge crammed in your brain needs to come to attention, be readily available to use on the exam. Panic, worry, procrastination and the ‘what am I going to do’ syndrome takes over.

What would be more interesting and less stressful than taking exams? Well, here is a list of suggestions that I would rather do than study for exams. Look to see if we are like-minded in this escape plan from studying the information that has owned your life all semester. Some of these ideas are serious, some mundane, yet others satirical. Life is about options, right?

1. Sleep

2.Go to a movie

3. Shop for shoes

4. Go out with friends

5. Laundry

6. Read a supercilious book

7. Daydream

8. Manicure/pedicure

9. Swim

10. Lift weights

11. Treadmill

12. Yoga

13. Nia

14. Wander around the grocery store

15. Sit on a park bench, people-watching

16. Run a marathon

17. Get a yearly physical

18. Read Proust

19. Clean every bathroom, shower and toilet in your dorm

20. Eat candy

21. Watch all 20 seasons of Law & Order

22. Go to a concert

23. Facebook

24. Twitter

25. Take the perfect selfie

26. Invite friends over to gossip

27. Video games

28. Take vehicles of everyone you know to the car wash

29. Paint a masterpiece

30. Mow the lawn

31. Shovel snow

32. Watch the Weather Channel

33. Go to Menards and look for an item they do not carry

34. Call a relative you have not seen in ages

35. Send a separate e-mail to everyone in your contact list

36. Go to the zoo

37. Rake leaves

38. Walk outside for hours

39. Read the dictionary

40. Transplant flowers

41. Have a tooth pulled

42. Wander in a cemetery

43. Pull weeds

44. Sell vacuum cleaners door to door

45. Ride every bus route

46. Imagine the exam does not exist

47. Sudoko

48. Bury your head in the sand

49. Hand count M & M's

50. Pick rocks from a field

Of course, this extensive list cannot replace passing exams and earning the credit for courses just taken. The inevitable stays the same: study, study, study. Be that responsible, grown-up adult that completes all tasks, fulfills all goals and adds another accomplishment to your life story. The real purpose of this article is to take your mind off exams for a few minutes. A tool to lower that blood pressure, calm those nerves and let your mind relax. I hope this has been helpful to gyrate all that learned information so it comes out in ways that answer those exam questions. You can do it with success! Exams do not take away what you have learned; instead, exams pull together and connect the dots of all that stuff in your brain. Instead of freaking out, give yourself a break. Take a deep breath, dream of doing something else and let your brain do the work for you.