It’s the most stressful time of the year. That’s right: finals. As a college freshman who has never been through finals before, I can assure you, it’s hell.
I’ve been doing musical theater for about six years, and the week before a show we have something called hell week. This is the most stressful part of any show because everything comes together to create what you have been working on so hard for months. Costumes are worn, props are put into place, and final touches are put onto makeup. Actors are at the theater for hours (not exaggerating...in high school we would be there sometimes until 10pm).
THAT is the only thing I can think to compare finals week to. The only difference? I like theater. Finals week is the real hell week. I have never been so engrossed in studying, or so exhausted.
Finals aren’t all bad though. Sure, college students are running on about 5 hours of sleep, and sure the Starbucks on campus has decided JUST NOW that they are no longer taking any form of payment except cash, but that makes for a pretty funny student body. So, to take the stress off from this week, here are some hilarious/cool things I’ve seen this week.
People sleeping EVERYWHERE
This is so strange, I don’t fully understand if people do this intentionally or if they just accidentally fall asleep under a desk in the library. Regardless, it’s hilarious to be in the cafeteria and see some girl conked out in a booth.
PUPPIES
God bless the puppies. Dog owners on campus know how hard of a time this can be for everyone, and that you aren’t allowed to have dogs in the dorms. The solution? A puppy play day that happens on a central campus location that allows for some puppy petting to destress.
Sweatpants, sweatpants everywhere
Everyone has given up. It’s finals week. The only thing we have time to do is study. Not eat, not sleep, and certainly not wake up later than we have to to figure out a cute outfit to wear. Most of the time we just go to class in our PJs. It works out because everyone else is doing the same exact thing.
People crying
Okay, this one sounds a bit mean. And I get that, I really do. If they were crying because something bad actually happened, that would suck. The reality of it is, everyone is stressed out during finals, so we are all overly emotional, and cry at the drop of a hat. Seriously, I saw two girls crying at the Starbucks because they don’t take cards anymore. This actually happened. C’mon, that’s funny.
Food
Tortillas falling from the sky (or being dropped out of dorm room windows), tortillas randomly found in the dorm hall water fountain, random girls carrying bags of frozen french fries crossing the street, and a girl brought sushi to a 9am final. I don’t know why finals make us hungrier (maybe it’s because we stopped sleeping for the week, so our bodies need a different way to get energy? That sounds science-y), but there is food literally everywhere.
Camaraderie
Everyone is helping out everyone else. Seniors are being nice to freshmen they were making fun of two weeks ago, people are putting funny memes up on the class pages because people need to laugh more during finals week, and everyone is making sure everyone is taking care of their mental health as much as possible. This is what makes finals not THAT bad.
When finals get you down, these things will pick you right back up. Remember it’s only a week of your life and then you can sleep as much as you want to for a month. Gulp down that Red Bull, and know you got this.
