The hell we’ve been dreading all semester has finally approached: Finals season. You’re cramming for tests, increasing your coffee (or in some cases, alcohol) intake every day, and you’re barely holding on by a thread to make it through the next two weeks of exams.

You might be questioning your major by now. You might have given up completely, or you might be finding a procrastination method every time you turn a corner. The possibilities are endless during finals.

To top it all off, some of your best friends probably live a few hours from you. They moved away for school and you’re stuck at home right where you are. The only thing separating your reunion with your friends is finals. You’re dying for the last two weeks of school to end so your friends will come home and you can all celebrate the end of a long, treacherous semester.

All you can think about is summer: Summer vacations, your best friends coming home, partying seven days a week without worrying about exams coming up, and not worrying about chapter meetings for three months. The sun-kissed skin, the poolside margaritas, and the simplicity of a movie night with your childhood best friends - it’s all so close you can taste it.

But in the meantime, you’re trying your best to get through these finals. You might even be spending hours on end at the local coffee shop studying…or at least pretending to study. And while you’re there, you probably check your phone more than you look at your notes. Whether you’re waiting for your boyfriend to text you back or you're waiting for that motivational text from your best friend, there’s a big chance that you’re not actually studying.

You’re doing your best to manage your stress. You spend more time ignoring responsibilities and crying than you do anything else. You crack open a book long enough to realize you can find something better to do. But as the stress piles up higher than the textbooks on your desk, you remember that you’re two weeks and five short tests away from three months of adventure.

So as you begin to study, you start daydreaming about all the better things in life that college has to offer: Unforgettable nights with sorority sisters, welcome home surprises from those friends that moved off, and believe it or not, those long study nights that can turn into something fun with the right friends and a bottle of wine.

Dory said it best when she said just keep swimming – So just keep swimming against the heavy current that’s weighing down on your sleepless schedule. You’re so close to the shore, and when finals are over, you can lay out on the sand and tan all day long without a care in the world. You’re almost there.