The time of the year that we’ve all been dreading is now upon us. The time of the year when we’re all forced to buckle down and get ‘er done. The time of the year when the only thing that is on every UF student’s mind is the fact that winter break is soon to come…aka freedom!   

With Thanksgiving break acting as a tease, our entire student body returns for a two to three week period of pure stress and anxiety. All of a sudden lecture halls begin to fill up, the starbucks line goes out the door and it takes you even longer than usual to find just ONE empty seat at lib west.   

At the University of Florida everyone begins to act in one of two ways: irrational or depressed. With finals bringing out the worst in all of us, we tend to cope with the stress in whichever way best suits us individually. In the next couple of days you will inevitably notice the amount of people eating their feelings as they have their nose in a book and how many people seem too easily agitated to even be around.      

Compared to the silent coziness that is Summer A finals week, finals week during fall is a surreal madness where every man is left to fend for himself. From personal experience I have found that no amount of caffeine can revive me after the second all-nighter of the week. If, by chance, you are one of the few who feels completely well prepared for finals week because you have kept up with all of your lectures and quizzes from the entire semester, not only can you kick back and relax but you can also laugh in pity for the rest of us unfortunate souls.      

On the bright side, in the five-minute study breaks that we allow ourselves per hour we can look ahead in excitement for the three weeks of holiday themed parties, home cooked meals and family reunions. Soon we will forget about all of the stress that we endured, partially because our brains are too fried to remember anything and partially because we are already starting to plan our survival techniques for the spring semester. 

Overall, as each year goes by here at UF, not much changes when it comes to the harsh reality of under preparing and therefore, the same ole’ predictable attempts at saving our GPA’s are just that, predictable.