As finals week gets into high gear, I've been doing some reflecting of how this matches up with what I was hearing at this time last year. Sorry, Class of 2021, but it's not quite how they make it sound in the brochure.

I know, it's shocking, right?

Here are some examples.

Brochure: "We offer activities and refreshments during finals week to help students study and achieve their greatest success."

Real life: Activities like "Primal scream and ice cream" or "Group Cry in Front of Wilson" will likely become things that you not only want but also actively need.

Brochure: "The library facilities are easily accessible from most on campus dorms, with hours to accommodate student needs."

Real life: You will spend over 10 hours in the library, before meeting friends for a study group in another one.

Brochure: "The dining hall offers a wide variety of enjoyable options. We like to help students make healthy choices, so all of our vegetables are locally sourced and grown by vegetable-specific experts."

Real life: There are...vegetables here? It's quite likely that you will eat chick-fil-a every day during your last week, in a frantic attempt to use up those pesky plus swipes that you love most of the time.

Brochure: "As a liberal arts university, we specialize in a wide variety of fields, and are therefore able to offer all sorts of classes to students - everything from the history of North Carolina's cooking tradition to math for English majors."

Real life: You love that there are so many interesting classes, but just can't handle learning everything there is to know about the stars, German grammar conjugations, and the Civil War all in one day.

Brochure: "Come here, go anywhere."

Real life: Come here.... stay here. Until you're done, at least.

In all seriousness, we're making it! And finals week could definitely be worse. Plus, Class of 2021, what I said was true - it's not quite like the brochure. It's better (most of the time).