We’ve almost reached the end of the road: our nights have been spent well studying (or avoiding said studying), we’ve completed every class period, and the last exams and papers have been submitted. While the last parts of the semester go from being ‘right now’ to ‘a couple days ago’ to ‘a couple weeks ago’ until we’re suddenly back at school, the stress of preparation and physically managing finals is going to dissipate, either in one huge breath of decompression or as a gradual unwinding among friends, family, and everything unrelated to school. However, there’s a part of the finals stress arc tripartite that is usually not as discussed in reference to what gives students anxiety: the post-final period where your grade goes from being something a student has an idea about to being an amorphous blob which won’t take form again until those final grades are posted. So, what can be done to alleviate the ‘aftermath’ part of the ‘studying-completing-post’ final arc?
1. DON'T constantly refresh your web browser.
If you’re anything like me, you might feel like having WebAdvisor either 1) open constantly or 2) as the last tab you just closed is going to get you closer to the eventual moment the professors post the grades; one of the unfortunate part about this gray area in-between completed finals and the posting of final grades is that there’s no definite answer as to when the final results will be posted. While it may seem like each tap of the refresh button is a silent, miniscule prayer to your teachers to please for the love of [insert deity, celebrity, or television show here] post the final grades please please please please, all it’s really doing is wasting bandwith – while you met get lucky and have a grade appear out of the blue, the more likely scenario is that you’re needlessly stressing over something almost unpredictable. Therefore, I’m attempting to limit myself to only one or two checks of WebAdvisor per day, one in the morning and one at night. Most likely, if the professors are going to post, it’ll be within those two windows.
2. Take your mind off your grades; relax.
Another strategy for alleviating your anxiety is to take the rather nihilistic approach that what’s done is done – the finals are submitted and you did the best you could. I understand that some find this prospect rather scary, but the truth is that nothing can be done at this point; there’s no last ditch recalls where revisions are possible, so while you might be tempted to consider all the ‘what-ifs’, try your best not to focus on what’s no-longer in your control. For me, such a feeling is somewhat comforting because that means my work is done – and if you’re home for the holidays, then you’re in a position to unravel all the stress of the classes which are now over besides those last grades.
3. If the worst occurs, don't despair.
Let’s say that, during the manic refreshing of your browser, one of the grades comes back and you’re surprised that it isn’t as good as it could’ve been. Well, welcome to the club; I’ve experienced my fair share of academic success both in college and high school, and while my college career has gone reasonably well, my high school career was rather disappointing. I would work myself into a flurry of anxiety and would put my self-worth in almost direct correlation with my grades at some points, even if I pretended not to care; such a pairing is a rather unfortunate correlation which exists all over the world nowadays. A fact of this world is that life can sometimes be callous and cruel, but the beauty is only possible through perseverance, and that includes success. Even outright almost dropping out of high school isn’t always the end of the world; don’t let one grade define the parts of yourself which aren’t measurable by anybody else. And who knows: you might do better than you expected in some classes, and nothing’s a better start to the holiday season than seeing hard work fulfilled.
So remember, don't refresh that grades tab – too much! Focus on those who will care for you no matter what happens.
