It's finals week, that magical time of the year when deadlines come due, presentations come up, and the symphony of stress and work, that is the background to so much of college, builds to an unbearable crescendo. It’s the time of year when the brain starts cracking, the body starts sagging, and a goodnight’s sleep becomes a hazy fever dream. The overload of books, all nighters, study groups, cram sessions, study guides, and flashcards is enough to make someone want to scream! Or perhaps break down sobbing on your bed, whatever works for you. What then is to be done? Is any relief from this burden to be found? I'm here to tell you there is a mythic cure-all to the problem of finals. Running. Now hold on a minute, before you are quick to dismiss it, hear me out. There a number of properties in running that make it ideal as a survival super weapon for finals.
First off, running serves as an excellent way to de-stress and relax a tired mind. For a small physical price and a brief time investment, running allows the mind to retreat in on itself for a little bit and unwind from the stresses of life. It lets the mind explore other topics of thought without any constraints or deadlines hanging over it, just limitless conscious freedom. Or for those so inclined, it allows the mind to be submerged into the void. A place devoid of conscious thought, just action and reaction as the miles fly by and you move as if on autopilot. For those worried about wasting time or being unproductive, running gives the advantage of taking a mental break without feeling as if you are being unproductive. You're being active not lounging on a bed watching Netflix or taking a nap. If you're worried that running would increase the exhaustion that you feel, fear not. A good solid run can work wonders on a tired body, giving it the boost it needs to be prepared mentally and physically for taking on the day.
The other realm where running serves as an invaluable tool for finals survival is as an enhancer of creativity. As previously mentioned, running opens up the mind to internal exploration and creative freedom. This creative freedom makes running ideal as the way to hurdle creative obstacles or brainstorm new ideas for presentations or essays. Indeed, many professional writers have long recognized the usefulness of running to hone their craft from literary masters such as Jonathan Swift and Louisa May Alcott to contemporaries such as Joyce Carol Oates and Malcolm Gladwell. Running provides an entirely safe and private laboratory to explore any idea or train of thought again and again without wasting time in endless rewrites and restarts. The introspective nature of running lends its usefulness to papers that require more thought and consideration of their subjects. For a student scarce on time, with several essay deadlines pending, this ability provides an easy and fast way to complete assignments on time and in their full measure.
Running for these reasons provides an accessible and easy way to combat the stress that finals bring and to get ahead on assignments. The best part is that these benefits can be utilized through out the entire year and beyond just finals or even college. As long as you keep running the benefits never stop.