The hardest part of returning to school after Thanksgiving break is not leaving your bed or your dogs. It's not returning to the dining hall when you had a week of good food for free. No; it's the impending doom of finals. All those papers and tests seemed like a far distance away until you realize, “Oh, so that twelve page research paper I haven’t started is due on December 12th, also known as this Monday.”

At first, you kind of hope for the best. Think about it: stress eating without the guilt, late night snacks, treating yourself to high quality meals for little morale boosts; the upside to any hardship is always food.

But eventually, you'll have to look at your planner full of due dates and the panic will start to hit.

And then there is no escaping the mountain of work that lies before you.

It's going to be hard: you'll start reviewing for your test or writing your paper, and immediately feel like you’ve learned nothing at all this semester.

And one of your friends will shrug and say they "really don't have that much work."

Just remember to focus on taking care of yourself during this stressful time. It’s essential that you get enough sleep. If that means napping for three hours longer than planned and waking up in a panicked sweat, so be it.

It’s also important to exercise when you can to fight off stress.

Most of all, make sure you eat and drink enough (coffee) to get enough nutrients (caffeine).

And yeah, at some point or another, you start to think about what kind of lucrative career paths you could have if you drop out here and now.

You’re just in a fragile state and that’s okay. Most people will understand, expect for that one friend who really doesn't have that much work.

But just think of how good you’ll feel when it’s all over. You'll probably feel this good:

So have faith in yourself. Winter break is on the other side.

And above all, always remember that to achieve your goal of great grades: