It's finals szn (this means season - apparently all the cool kids are saying it). With finals comes a new variety of creatures roaming our campuses, classrooms, bus routes, and dorms. I like to call these creatures the "Humans of Finals." Finals week is us, the college students, when we are sleep deprived. Finals week is us when we are vulnerable. Finals week is us when we spread so thin that our split ends have a better chance at holding it all together this week. Finals week is us when we discover who we are in a last-second-shot, game-winning situation. Will we crumble or will we rise up to the challenge? Will we remain sane or throw everything we know out the window? Here are five categories of how we will adapt to finals week:
1. The Pajama
This is the person who doesn't even bother put on real clothes between sleeping hours. They pull all-nighters regularly during this busy season of college. Their hair has bed head written all over it and their plaid pajama pants drag through the puddles as they walk zombie-like from one place to another. This person is skating on thin ice and we all just hope that they don't fall asleep during their final. Their roommates don't see them much and they don't ever seem to be speaking English, but rather murmuring a type of gibberish. They will likely sleep for the first three days of the winter break in order to recover from this week.
Most Likely To Be Found: In a perpetual cycle of sleep and study.
2. The Stress
This is the person you try to hide within ourselves. It's the person you wish you could separate from, but when it comes to finals, the dark side of you comes out. You bury inside of concrete buildings, eat most meals out of vending machines or drive-thru windows, and no matter how many grueling hours were spent at the library it never seems like enough. There doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel until it comes and you are basking in the light of winter break. The storm consumes you, and your sanity goes out the window faster than celebrities claimed to leave the US after Trump won president-elect.
Most Likely To Be Found: In a corner of the library, sleeping at the 24-hour Denny's, or hiding under the desk.
3. The Organized
This is the person we hate to love. It's the friend who is always one step ahead of everyone else. It comes so naturally to them that they can't even really explain it. The stress of finals week doesn't really hit them because they planned out their study schedule for this week before midterms even started. They've got college down to a T while the rest of us are slowly, but surely, going up in flames along with our GPA. At the end of the day, though, this is the friend who is a constant support to those of us who don't have finals under control. This friend offers a helping hand when our mental breakdowns are so frequent that there is no differentiating one from the next. The Organized is who we all strive to be, but only the lucky ones are gifted enough to fall into this category.
Most Likely To Be Found: At home with a cup of green tea or coffee.
4. The Chill
This is the person who somehow thinks they have it all together regardless of whether they've attended to a single class this semester. Their personality harnesses peace and harmony and not even finals can knock them out of their eternal chill. They might study a little, but they keep that behind closed doors. They spend most of the time leading up to finals meeting up with friends and being a much-needed distraction for the rest of the college population who aren't blessed with anti-stress genes. This, like The Stress, is another person we hate to love. That is until our hard work pays off and we can happily go home to our parents without disappointing them (too much).
Most Likely To Be Found: Chilling at a local coffee spot while chaos ensues around them or hanging at the park.
5. The Confused
This is the person who thinks finals are next week. Even though they've been reminded by friends, professors, classmates and emails, it never seems to stick. They have a vague feeling that something is going on because campus has a weird hush-hush tone and suddenly all of their professors "canceled" classes. However, they don't realize until very late in the game that their finals are much sooner than expected. Most of us don't feel sorry for this person because, well, they did it to themselves. It's a dog eat dog world (or cat eat cat if you're that type of person). After realizing that they have a final tomorrow morning, they frantically transition into The Stress and hope for a finals miracle.
Most Likely To Be Found: In bed watching Netflix, going to the wrong final, or emailing the entire class for notes hours before the final they forgot about.
Which category will you fall into this December?
