As I "dorm-hopped" for a week over February break and witnessed my freshmen friends at other colleges going through a ridiculous amount of midterms, I realized that the struggle we all face is very common: doing homework vs. sleep vs. studying for midterms ... And on top of all of that, keeping up with friends, calling parents, working and attending various events on campus. Common library screams consist of: "I want this week to be over ASAP!" or the one that resonates with me the most: "Why did I not finish all of this over break?" The struggles are all too real and all too familiar.
1. Burnout syndrome
Yes, the ultimate enemy we all have: the burnout syndrome. Although we tend to almost always call it 'procrastination', the burnout syndrome is defined as: "a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress" which, in my opinion, fits the midterms time a lot better. As procrastination reaches its peak, and an extreme lack of motivation follows, and you just want to go on a hike and scream, or just party.
2. Quest for quiet sections of the library
The reaction you give when someone decides to make the loudest call of their lives in a quiet section of the library. It all happened to us at least once and we did not have the energy to get up and ask them to relocate to a 'cell-phone designated area.'
3. To coffee or not to coffee?
When you know you will be in the library until 2 a.m., and you decide that at 9:55 p.m., you need coffee to actually be'productive. And then that dance of happiness is inevitable when you make it to Starbucks on time! Makes you forget about your pile of work for a millisecond!
4. The Library Nap
Crawling on the library table/carrel like:
We have all done it. Especially when we convinced ourselves that the last cup of coffee we bought from Starbucks failed to keep us awake, because we just can't anymore.
5. Sleep?
"What even is sleep? I can totally wake up at 8 am tomorrow if I go to bed at 5 a.m., and then I will sleep all day after my midterm."
And then next day at 8 a.m. you are like:
6. The ultimate addiction: Social Media apps and our phones
This is how fast we all are at swapping apps ... From Facebook to Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Yik Yak. These apps are the best way to lose ample study time.
7. Getting papers back during midterms week
This is a struggle we all face on a monthly, or rather, bi-weekly basis. We get a paper back and right after seeing our grade, we all get defensive, because we all believe that last Starbucks drink we got made all the difference in our performance!
8. The end of your midterms week
When it's all over and you don't have to stay up late studying for a midterm until ungodly hours! That inability to fathom that it's over can take a while ... Until you start watching a movie with friends or a new TV show on Netflix with your favorite Ben & Jerry's!
