Here we are again, the end of another semester. It’s that time of year where we all decide to go to the library even if we haven’t gone all year just to study for all of our cumulative finals. The fact that some professors expect us to know all of the material from February until now.

If you go to Delaware, you already know that all of your friends are home and finished with their finals and have already started their summer. It’s frustrating, of course, to be studying for your miserable finals week while everyone you know is on a beach, in their own bed, or just relaxing over their summer break which started about two weeks ago.

Finals week is absolutely the most stressful time of the whole year. With final assignments, last days of classes, and cramming for four to six cumulative exams, this week is a rough time for all of us.

If you have the option to go home, I say go for it, because everyone staying on campus is a big ball of stress and I assure you it will not help you. I do so much better on finals if I go home to study and sleep in my own bed than if I stay here in a 10x19 room with a roommate and a bunch of noise happening in the hallways.

At home, there are no other students there to stress you out about how much work we all have and you have full control over how and where you study. If you’re like me, you’ll be spending the majority of your time in your local Starbucks where you’ll probably see all of the kids from your hometown who will ask what you’re doing because they’re already on summer vacation.

My best advice for this week is to just relax. Don’t take on any additional stress or put yourself through too much before you take your exams. Stay up late if you need to, but don’t forget how important sleep is for your brain. Take notes, highlight things of importance, and drink a lot of water.

Don’t overwhelm yourself, so you should try your best to create a study plan that you think you can stick to. Start studying for each final at least two days in advance so that you feel you have ample time to review the material. Take study breaks when you want to, it’s allowed! You don’t have to study every minute of every day leading up to your finals, it’ll make you crazy. So study for an hour, take a 15-minute break, then go back to studying for an hour again.

Moving out of school is a bit overwhelming and occurs during finals week, so start early! Start while on your study breaks so that you don’t save everything for the last day because it’s a lot and you’re going to want to go home as soon as possible on your last day so you don’t want to spend all of it packing up your belongings. Make lists so that you don’t forget anything and try to leave the room in as nice of a condition as you found it because that’s just considerate for the next student who lives there.

So, for finals week, take your time and just breathe. Everything will be fine as you’ve been learning the material all semester and you should be okay to pass these exams.