Christmas countdowns are in full swing, the weather's getting brisker by the day and the anticipated holiday break is only a few short days away. It seems as if nothing could stop your steadfast readiness to be at home decorating the house with your family and catching up with old friends over Cinnamon Chai Tea Lattes. Holiday music blasts throughout the dorm halls and there's no homework to be done because the semester's almost over!
Then you wake up and realize it's finals week...
That pine tree-scented, peppermint-tasting dream you just had is over, and it's time to snap back into the reality of school. But not to worry because it's only for one, long, anxiety-ridden week.
To all of us study-goers, we know the routine: there is none. Every time we try to study or get things accomplished, something or someone seems to bombard us. We all have those common distractions that come into play.
The 10 Common Distractions of Finals Week:
1. The Chatty Roommate:
After a successful 15 minutes of hard-core studying, your roommate can barely contain themself. Let's be honest, neither can you. Whether it be a new relationship on Facebook the two of you must discuss or cravings for chocolate chip cookies, you just can't accomplish much in the presence of each other. Because once you two really get going, blueprints of how you want to rearrange the room pop into the conversation and this becomes the absolute end to your studying for the night.
2. The Overcrowded Study Room:
Being the responsible adult you are, you book a study room for you and a couple of friends. In theory, it's a nice quiet place to get your work done, and it even has a white board to do practice problems. That is until your "couple" of friends slowly turns into a handful of friends and soon after that becomes a room full of friends bringing in chairs and fighting for table space. Upon which Christmas songs start playing, and the whole study room becomes a private karaoke party.
3. Online Shopping:
You catch a glimpse of your friend's computer screen of Forever 21, you simply can't resist the urge to do the same. "Only for 10 minutes," you tell yourself. Ten minutes turns into a full-fledged shopping spree with about 5 different stores in your web browser, each containing about $300 worth of merchandise.
4. Your Bed:
There's not much explaining to do here because we all know the love and acceptance our beds have to offer. After 10 hours of cramming for an exam, it's time. So go take a nap and give in to the temptation.
5.Your friends that get to leave by Wednesday:
Your luck has landed you a Friday final and you're stuck at school for the whole week. You get to watch each and every one of your friends depart with their families while you watch from the window with your Chemistry book wide open.
6. Phone calls from your family:
In case you forgot that it's final week, your parents will call you about twice a day to remind you to study, ask you if you're studying, and discuss how you should be studying more. Two hours have just been taken out of your day due to the fact each time they called you had to get up and move into an area you wouldn't be disturbing anyone else. Thank you, parental units.
7. Review Sessions:
Because we all think we should go to these beneficial 3 hour-long meetings with our teachers. But in reality, we end up zoning out 30 minutes due to sleep deprivation and all we learned is that the exam will be 75 questions with 2 essay questions. But give yourself a pat on the back....A+ for effort. Too bad you still only know theres 75 questions with 2 essays.
8. Social Media:
Half your friends are already home and the other half are attempting to survive the week just like you. But the amount of mass snaps you're receiving is unreal, and you feel the need to respond to every single one. Not to mention the amounts of articles (like this one) that you scroll through for a study break. (But hey, remember to share so your friends going through the same struggle can bask in your pain and laughter.)
9. The kid tapping their pencil too loud:
Sitting in your own personal, silent cubicle in the library was a last resort to exile yourself from the over joyous world. But the kid behind you won't stop tapping their pencil on the desk, the kid in front of you won't stop obnoxiously flipping the pages of his book and you can clearly make out every word to "Trap Queen" from the kid with the headphones next to you.
10. Yourself:
Due to a lack of motivation, sleep ,and eating, you come to the realization that you are the one and only distraction of finals week. But like my parents said "Try, try, and try again." There will be more finals weeks to conquer, where we can strive to not fall victim to these distractions. But for now, grab your books and get cramming! Good Luck : )
