It is the end of the year and people are running like crazy. After I finished my first year, I did not know what to expect. Everyone was talking about their finals, their friends leaving, and even them leaving. My first year, I did not have that many exams so while everyone was studying I was reading or watching movies. Also, the quiet hours are annoying and no one wants to hang out because they are so stressed. This is a list of the things I would have liked to know about the end of classes:
1. Packing
After a year living in the same place, you forget how many things you have in your room. My advice would be to start early so you don't stress about it. Remember that you have to take everything out, and if you are an international student you have to decide what you are going to take back home. Yes, I know those are the most difficult decision, especially if you are going to stay home for the entire summer. Also, it is very possible that you do not have the space to pack everything and you will have to come up with new places to put your stuff. Good luck and have fun packing! Remember that it is normal to feel sad!
2. Finals
If you are like me and you do not stress easily, this is the time of the year that is going to make you feel stressed. Sometimes, you will have exams plus papers, but if you are lucky you will only have a couple of exams. The problem with finals is that you have to study everything that you learned throughout the semester. So basically, you have to relearn everything because let's be honest, no one remembers what they first learned. Prepare to have late nights and study marathons. The library will become your second house and somedays you will want to stay in bed all day. Finals week makes everyone go a little crazy so if your friends are irritable or you don't want to see anyone, don't worry, it's the stress talking for you. Also, prepare to drink tons of coffee if you want to survive and stay awake until the last day!
3. Leaving your friends
Finals also means that your friends, and you, are leaving soon. It is difficult to say goodbye to the people your lived with the past year. Also, if you live in a suite you will see your roommates leaving if you are not the first one to leave. If you live in a double you will have to stay alone until the day you go home and that is the worse! Prepare to live in an empty room for a couple of days and wanting to leave right away!
4. The stress of not getting your grades back
Some professors can be inconsiderate and they do not post your grades throughout the semester. So, at the end of the semester you are stressed because you do not know where you stand. Also, you are not going to get your grades back right away after finals. It is very probable that they will take their sweet time and post them a week or more after. Prepare to be checking Moodle (Clark Students) or the online page non-stop until you get your grades posted. If you do not want to stress about it just enjoy the beginning of the summer and wait until your university emails about your grades.
5. Lack of sleep
It is very normal if you sleep an average of three hours a day. Let me warn you that you should sleep if you want to retain the information. Also, it is normal that the stress is not letting you sleep so just take a cup of tea or watch a movie to relax. The last couple of weeks before the semester ends we all look like zombies so prepare to sleep for days after everything is done.
6. Being the last one of your friends to finish
Sometimes, your friends finish their exams earlier than you. It is difficult to see them having fun and relaxing while you are still struggling to end the semester. Do not get mad if they joke around and expect them to joke about them being done. Also, if you are the last one to finish it does not mean that you cannot hang out with them, you just need to re-arrange your schedule and make time for them, if you want.
7. Having too much time or not having enough
The most difficult thing to do at the end is calculating how much time you have. Sometimes you will feel like you have all the time of the world and others you will feel like you are drowning in assignments. The problem is that you do not have to wake up for classes anymore and you have free days to study. I recommend you to start with your assignments as soon as possible because when we have so much time we do not realize that we are not as productive. Also, sometimes you will have so many assignments and exams that you will go crazy and hole-up in the library all day. Do not expose yourself to get to the extremes, have a balanced schedule and work at your own pace.
The end of the year is always bitter-sweet. Everyone is excited to leave college, but they do not want to leave their friends. Also, it means that summer is here and they do not need to worry about deadlines and assignments. In other words, you are completely free. So, as the end of the semester is coming, enjoy the last days you have with your friends and try not to stress too much because summer is waiting for you.
