Believe it or not, cumulative tests, creative presentations, and research papers don't have to torch your mental health. I can speak to this personally having gone through many years where all my s*** hits the fan when the end of the semester swings around. That means you too can become relatively well-adjusted and happy in the worst of times! Of course, my methods may not work for everyone, so I encourage you to use this list as much or little as you see fit.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying you should take the whole week off and not do anything for your finals, but I'm saying that you deserve to be treated with love and respect at all times of the school year.

Without further ado, here are the things I wish I thought of when I was a first-year crying over my textbooks.

1. You are more than your grades.

STEM majors, you are more than your grades. Art majors, you are more than your grades. English majors, you are more than your grades. Grad-school-hopefuls, you are more than your grades. Med-school-bound-folks, you are more than your grades. Everyone else I didn't mention, you are more than your grades.

No matter how you may feel in the present moment, that test does not define your future. I suppose the GRE does a little bit, but not all grad schools require you take even that. So...don't reduce yourself to a single number on a single test in a single class in a single semester in a single school year. Do you see how constricted that thinking is?

2. You can do it.

I know things can start to feel impossible when all of your classes inevitably hit a traffic jam and everything is do at once. I have a creative presentation, 12 page research paper, in-depth extra credit assignment, two cumulative tests, and a grant proposal all due within two weeks. Fun times. But I know I'm capable of finishing each and every one of them.

I have been preparing the entire quarter for the exams by regularly attending class, taking notes, reading the textbook, and so on. The creative presentation is a no-brainer because it's on my religion and I just need to find some scholarly sources to back up what I already know.

The 12 page research paper is a lot of work, but that counts the abstract, introduction, and reference pages. That's already 4 pages taken care of! The extra credit assignment I can take care of at the same time as my research paper since it involves analyzing a research study conducted in a scholarly, peer-reviewed article.

Most of my professors have been teaching at the university for some time. Students have completed their exams and projects before in similar combinations. If they could do it, so can I.

3. Pace yourself. (There's an app for that!)

I downloaded this Pomodoro style timer on my iPhone so I don't try to do everything without taking breaks while slowly losing grip of my sanity and reaching the point where I label Generation Z "Generation Queer." (It's true, OK?)

It has helped me maintain my grip on reality for as little as $0 and I highly recommend it.

4. Think about thinking.

In psychology, we call it metacognition. In college student world, it's figuring out how you learn and remember things and applying that to studying. Are flash cards your thing? Paper or electronic? Does reviewing out your notes help? How about explaining the topic to a friend? It's kind of like working smarter but more individualized and it could save you a lot of stress having a study strategy tailored just for you.

5. Remember why you started.

Why did you choose to come to college? Why are you in the major you're in? Do you want to fight mental health stigma like me? Do you want to prove the haters wrong and make your parents proud? Do you want to get out of your small town and make it to the big city? Take some time to sit down and think through these things when you're shot for motivation. It'll make studying seem a lot more worthwhile when you're thinking about how you want to save the world. ;)