Everyone knows the 7 stages of grief. And whether they occur after losing a loved one, losing a relationship, or losing an opportunity, these stages are tried and true. Although they can occur at a variety of paces, many people have experienced these same steps towards recovering from a traumatic time.

As trivial as it may sound, high school and college students can attest that Finals Week most definitely qualifies as one of these traumatic times. And as they wrap up their finals in the coming weeks, these symptoms of grief may appear in their recovery time, post-final exams.

1. Disbelief

After being consumed by stress since (at least) Thanksgiving, the weight has finally been lifted off of your shoulders. Yet you still wake up at 10:47am in a panic because you slept through your first class, completely forgetting that you intentionally didn't set an alarm, and that part of your life is over (temporarily). I can't possibly have a free day to lay in bed and watch Netflix... can I?

2. Denial

As you go about your day, post-final exams, you can't help but have this nagging feeling that you are forgetting something. You are way too used to always having something to work on. So you set your alarm for 8am and look for something to do anyway. I must have something that I need to do today. Don't try to tell me I can relax!

3. Bargaining

As grades start to roll in, you are constantly refreshing your school's online grading portal. Every notification leads to a new level of anxiety, and then you see your grade. And you see that you have missed the next letter-grade by not 2, not 1, but 0.4 points. So you whip out your email and compose the most eloquent, desperate email you can imagine. Dear Professor, I am so sorry to be reaching out to you this late in the semester, but I was wondering if...

4. Guilt

Other grades roll in that might not have as much potential for improvement, queuing your inner guilt. I shouldn't have gone out last weekend. I should have spent more time studying. I really didn't pay attention well enough in those lectures.

5. Anger

After blaming yourself first, you decide to shift the fault onto external causes. My professor is the worst! He wanted us to do poorly. My friends are such bad influences for distracting me from my studying. Why did the creators of The Office have to make it so damn addicting?!

6. Depression

Once the rage is over, sadness sets in. Well, there goes my GPA. No grad school is ever going to accept me now. I better just retake the class/switch majors/drop out.

7. Acceptance

And once you get over the initial disappointment, you realize that finals are over and that is it--there is nothing else you can do. I mean, there's always next semester. And at least now I get a break... for a little while.