With the semester coming to a close, college students across the country are abruptly launching into their final week. Midterms have come and gone, and so comes the screeching halt that is finals week. While I haven’t had the displeasure of going through them quite yet, if the past is anything to go on I can accurately predict how this next week will pan out for students everywhere.

Stage 1 – Denial

You wake up on Monday, your first final is later in the evening. You have essays due later in the week, so there’s nothing to worry about now. You have plenty of time. 1800 words? That’s a cakewalk, right? Nothing’s wrong. You should probably just do some Christmas shopping and pack your dorm up now. Take today’s exam, and destroy it. You’ve prepared all semester for it.

Stage 2 – Anger

Monday’s exam didn’t go so well. It’s not your fault though. How were you supposed to prepare for three essay questions and thirty multiple choice. The professor could have at least made the exam multiple choice! That class was stupid anyway, when are you even going to need it? It’s not even part of your major! You just have to take it to give your school even more of your money, you shouldn’t have even had to take it. Maybe you’ll draft up a strongly-worded email to your professor before deleting it.

Stage 3 – Bargaining

It’s Wednesday now. Your essays are due Friday. You have almost no time left. You spent Monday Christmas shopping and you spend Tuesday in a blind rage. Today will be different. You’re willing to sacrifice the entire day to finishing your essays and studying for the rest of your exams. You won’t leave your room, you won’t watch Netflix, and you won’t play around on your phone. You will give up this time so you could just get your work finished.

Stage 4 – Depression

Why do you even bother? You made some progress on Wednesday, sure. But was it enough? Everyone else seems to be doing better than you. You start to think that maybe college wasn’t for you. It’s Thursday now, you’ll get some stuff done of course, but you won’t be as passionate as you were yesterday.

Stage 5 – Acceptance

It’s Friday. 24 hours remain. You manage to crank out your essay, and submit it online. You take your final exam. It’s all a blur. Maybe you did alright. Maybe not. It doesn’t matter anymore. Everything is officially out of your hands. You know that you’re not failing out of college. At best you did better than you thought, at worst your GPA takes a small hit. That’s okay, though. It’s time to leave campus for a solid month. It’s over.