Finals week sucks. There is no gentle or more elegant way to say this while still maintaining my true feelings about this time of the year. I have been through so many of these stressful weeks now, yet I still am convinced I am not going to make it to the end every time.

So, to make things a little better when your hands are cramped up from typing three final papers, you have more Dunkin Donuts caramel coffee running through your veins than actual blood, and you are in desperate need of a nap, a snack, and a hug, try thinking about finals week as though it is just the season finale episode of your favorite show. Because those always end with a happy cliff hanger!

The show starts off with everyone’s favorite theme song, with flashes of all the characters smiling and dancing around like they will never have to deal with anything as painful as a finals week. The audience sings along (and maybe has a synchronized clapping sequence) to their favorite classic theme song. Number one fans even have it set as their ringtone!

There is a montage of studying clips mashed up together with clips of the main character drinking endless amounts of coffee all with a synthesized speedy song dubbed over it. These silly antics of the main character make the audience laugh. (and definitely not the awkward panic laughs)

And there has to be a moment where the audience thinks the main character isn’t going to make it. *Cut to a scene of them waking up at 7:51 on the day they have an 8:00 final*

But it all works out, just like it always does. Everyone knows the main character never gets killed off, and that season finales are happy. The episode ends with a montage to some sappy slow song over a montage of the characters laughing and hugging throughout the semester, something sweet to carry the audience until the beginning of the next season.

And it definitely ends on a cliff hanger, watching the main character stare at their computer, waiting for their final grades to pop up, with one (cliché) drip of sweat clinging to their furrowed brow.

So, when you are struggling to memorize hundreds of index cards, get your hands to stop shaking during your presentation, and filling out your last scan tron of the week, just think about this stressful week as a final episode of your favorite show.