Every grade has finals week; for those blessed souls in high school it is only brought down upon them once a year. For us college kids, we must suffer through them once a semester. Why we are double punished for wanting to improve our futures is beyond me. Every year you think its going to get better, that you’ve learned from your past study mistakes, and this is the year you’ll ace them all. But in actuality the semester zipped by before you knew it and all of the promises you made to yourself about being a model student are long gone. Most people rely on their final papers and tests to bring up their overall class grade they loafed around on all semester since they didn’t stick to the strict academic regimen they put themselves on during syllabus week. I am one who keeps a steady GPA all year, but finals are typically worth more than the usual test, thus the added pressure to do well. This week is literal hell for most people as we cram as much knowledge into our brains as we possibly can in the short week we have to prepare. This is also the week where everything can and will go wrong.
If your computer has been working fine and faithfully for your entire school career, this is when it will crash in the middle of your thesis paper that you hadn’t yet saved. Or, your charger will magically break in the middle of your eight-hour typing binge when you are almost finished with the paper worth a quarter of your grade. Had it just been a regular old assignment none of this would have happened, but since its finals week and significantly more important, of course there are going to be technical malfunctions.
If it’s not something wrong with your electronics, then something in your personal life will try and add some stress to your already heavy load. A fight with your significant other? Sure. Best friend is acting super weird? Of course. Argument with your parents right before break? Pile it on! It is the curse that when you are overwhelmed with schoolwork that will define your entire past few months of performance, every possible argument that can happen, will. Not to mention you will be at your worst in terms of handling these squabbles since you are running on minimal sleep and your bloodstream is pure coffee and Red Bull. It is the worst possible time for these disagreements to happen, yet they all inevitably happen.
Despite the crippling stress that we are all about to embark on, let us dry our tears and look ahead with a positive and spirited attitude. In some crevice of our overworked brains, we know the material and we know that we are capable of pulling ourselves together to get through this. I am coming up on my second to last finals week and I can only rejoice in the fact that I am almost done with serving my time with this torturous ritual. The light is at the end of the tunnel, and I know I can make it through. So, get your coffee orders ready, buy multiple pens and pencils in case they all break at once, and get ready to rock this week in spite of whatever may go wrong. Take these finals by the horns and make them your best yet!
