Dead week affects all of us differently, and some handle the pressure of finals better than others. Like, I guess there are people out there who have already started studying in anticipation of finals week so that their dead week is less hectic. I know, I was as shocked as you are! I’m not sure I would recognize dead week if it wasn’t for the wide variety of emotions that range from constant fear of your GPA to acceptance of your doom. And, although this article is an exaggeration (hopefully), I think that these stages do accurately describe the roller coaster of a time that is dead week.
1. The “I’m going to be really productive and set goals for myself each day” stage:
This stage comes before dead week even starts. Likely, it is what you tell yourself on the last day of classes to reassure yourself that you are not, in fact, really behind in all of your classes. Reading and memorizing two chapter’s worth of content whilst writing a research paper each day shouldn’t be that hard to handle, right? As long as you keep focused, you should be able to complete everything on time.
2. The “Ok, I’m a little bit behind schedule, but everything will be fine….right?” stage:
This stage comes on the Tuesday of dead week after a weekend of doing absolutely nothing (because you needed a break from all the “hard work” you did over the semester). You tell yourself that everything is ok and that you still have plenty of time. Your first final isn’t until next Tuesday, so today is when dead week really begins. However, you can’t shake the first twinges of fear that will soon escalate into full on panic.
3. The “Shit hits the fan” stage:
It is Thursday of dead week and you still have barely made any progress (school-wise). You have, however, progressed into the belief that you will not get everything done that you need to get done. But, instead of calmly accepting that fact and prioritizing the classes that you have to prepare for the most, you follow another course of action. You obsessively overcompensate by pulling a couple of all-nighters in a row. This course of action is certainly entertaining to your friends and roommates (you’re like a bad car accident that they can’t look away from), but it is ultimately the worst thing that you could have done. As a result of your all-nighters, you still don’t really understand the material (because of lack of sleep) and you are burned out because of all the stress that you self-inflicted. This immediately leads into the next stage.
4. The “Fuck it, I don’t care anymore” stage:
You have spent the last couple of days obsessing over the same few articles, chapters, or papers and you have had it. Nothing is worth feeling this horrible, not even the prospect of landing a job right after graduation. And, anyways, all of that studying that you did is probably enough to carry you through finals week. So, you get up from the desk that is, at this point, more familiar to you than your bed, and refuse to look at anything that is even kind of related to school. You log on to Netflix and watch the most mind-numbing show that you can find and just lose yourself. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice that you have just received an email from one of your GSIs. Out of habit, you open up the message that contains additional material that will be on the final…and start freaking out.
5. The “JK, I actually care about this more than I’ve cared about anything” stage:
Remember when I talked about shit hitting the fan? Yea, this is the stage where the shit has hit the fan and then hurtled back towards your face. You are in deep shit. It is the night before your first final and you don’t know where your dead week has gone. Surely you studied that thing that your GSI sent you, right? Spoiler: you didn’t. This stage is a combination of cursing your past self for being so lazy/bad at studying and trying (and failing) to not have a panic attack.
6. The “F*ck it, I really don’t care about this anymore” stage:
No, I did not make an accident. This stage is really in here twice because you feel it at two separate occasions. The first time you feel it as a reaction to all of the work you have (denial). The second time is a realization that dead week has bested you. You accept that you are not going to know all of the material in time, so there’s really no point in studying two hours before your test. So, you hit the hay and try to at least look presentable when you show up to your final.
7. The “Only time will tell” stage:
This stage happens on the way to your final. These are the last moments of dead week and you can’t honestly tell if you are going to be okay during your final. Although you put in some work, you’re not sure what’s going to happen. All in all, this stage is probably the most confusing, yet the most comforting. There is nothing you can do now that will prepare you more for this test, you just have to put confidence in the rare moments that you actually studied. Only time will tell how well you did in your classes and at this point you are just ready for summer (so who really cares?).
Dead week is simultaneously the worst and best thing ever. It is the best because you can study for as much as you like and not have to worry about going to class. But, it is also the worst because you have to make sure that you are on top of your studying. Otherwise, you might as well have just gone straight into finals week after the last week of classes. Regardless, I think that everyone can agree that dead week is stressful and sometimes gets the best of us. Here’s hoping that the only stage I will encounter is stage 1. Who am I kidding? I’m going to hit stages 3, 4, and 5 so...
