Dead week. It's all quarter/semester's culmination of Sunday Scaries into one week. Every college student knows the rollercoaster of emotions associated with those two words - so I figured I'd summarize them with the most relatable gifs.
1. Panic
The first feeling to set in is panic. Just the thought of a cumulative exam will make any student cringe, get butterflies, and want a hard drink all at once. Panic ensues when you realize you have exactly 168 hrs and 30 mins before your chem final.
2. Anxiety
With panic comes anxiety - nerves wracking at every moment when you worry about the impact this exam will have on your grade (or even worse, GPA).
3. Stress
Then comes the stressing... overanalyzing, wondering what else can be done in preparation, memorization, codes, anagrams, you name it, just to make different aspects of the exam a bit easier.
4. Hunger
Since you're studying so much, chances are you are either a) stress eating or b) not eating at all. Hunger takes over and you stuff yourself with half warmed up mac n cheese and your 3rd (?) Red Bull of the day at the library.
5. Giving Up
This phase comes up the most often - you want to just throw your hands up and say "screw this, I'm going to just live in my parents' basement for the rest of my life." You then proceed to flip to the next page and keep reviewing from the beginning of the quarter.
6. Hope
As you continue reviewing, you sense a bit of hope, when you answer a problem correctly after the first try (not the fifth), or when you recall a concept more easily than the others.
7. Perseverance
Here comes a wave of self-control and cumulative bodily strength - you push through all the obstacles in order to feel completely prepared for the exam laying ahead of you.
8. Anger
It's common at some point to experience anger, when you question "why am I even learning this in the first place if it doesn't pertain to my major? why is this at all important? when will I ever use this in real life?" and you feel like ripping up all of your papers.
9. Exhaustion
After a long week or two of preparations, all you can do is flop on your bed and rest up before you take this impending exam.
10. Freedom!!!!
After you finally complete the test, all you can feel is relief and FREEDOM that the quarter/semester is over!!!
