The dreaded week 16 of the semester is over; however, that’s not even the worst part. This week (week 17) is the real dreaded week. Finals week. Say those words on a college campus and the students will shiver and some may even cry. It isn't exactly the most fun part of college, but is inevitably here now. As the semester ends, students breathe a sigh of relief of not having to go to 8:00 a.m. classes, or sit through 75 minute classes, but that breath is quickly taken away as finals wait on the other side. The library fills with students living off of caffeine and any local food place that delivers (in order not to lose the precious and coveted prime table). The bed is a foreign land, and a large amount of time is spent calculating exactly what score is needed to get the desired GPA of each student. Summer is so close, yet so, so far. The closest students come to feeling the sun is through the window after an all-nighter, while going through these 6 stages of finals (as told by adorable dogs, of course).
1. Neglect the arrival of finals week.
What is this finals week you speak of? As you flip through the hundreds of pages of notes you’ve taken over the course of the semester, you say to yourself, "This can't actually be happening." As you look at something you were tested on in January and haven’t thought about since then, you say to yourself, "There's no way I'm actually going to take a test on all this information." As you book your plane ticket home and dream of waking up in your own bed next to your dog, you say to yourself, "This would be too painful to experience."
2. Realize that it's actually happening.
It’s the last dead day and you’re finally hit in the face by reality. This. Is. Sparta. Just kidding, it’s finals. And you’re surrounded by notes, flashcards, empty coffee cups, and granola bar wrappers instead of Greek warriors. And you’re wearing the same shirt you’ve been wearing for the past 48 hours instead of armor, but it’s still quite close. I’m ready, you say. I got this.
3. Cry.
I don’t got this, you say to yourself as you quiz yourself and get a 58 percent on your practice problems. You realize that you'll be sitting through a two hour exam that determines if you pass the class or not and you start to cry a bit more. Weren’t the three papers and five quizzes last week enough? You’re now surrounded by tissues and have a migraine, but it’s fine. We’re all fine ... 24 hours until this class is over ... 28 hours until this class over, you say as you tackle another set of practice problems. But then your favorite highlighter runs out of ink, and you start to cry again.
4. Study until you have to hold your eyelids open.
If I see another flashcard I might go crazy, you think to yourself. Your butt is cramping from sitting in a wooden chair for 18 hours straight, and your ears are sore from your headphones. You see black spots everywhere because you've been looking at a computer screen for so long, and you have paper cuts from turning countless pages in your text book. Just one more hour until I can go home and get some minimal amount of sleep, you tell yourself. You take a deep breath and stretch open your eyes, and pour that last drop of coffee into your mouth.
5. Actually take the test.
It’s time. You walk into the room and go over those last minute facts you need to study. You triple check to make sure you have a number two pencil and your calculator has batteries. The other students in the room all give each other the “I know you understand how tired I am but we got this, maybe” look. Cue the "High School Musical" class singing "We’re All in This Together." If we’ve made it through 16 weeks of exams and lectures and work, we can make it through a two hour exam. Your preparation and sacrifice has led to this moment, young grasshopper. May the force be with you.
6. Cry yourself to sleep (finally).
Are they tears of joy or tears of pain? The world may never know. But it’s done, it’s in the past. You don’t have to look at a scan-tron until the fall semester now, although you may see them in your nightmares the next few nights. You put a bandaid around your cut up finger that has held pencils for too long these past few days, and collapse into your bed. Just as you start to doze off, you see the last of your suitcases that still has to be packed before heading home, but that can be taken care of later. You’ll also have to wash this tear stained pillow, but that’s the last thought you have before dozing off into a triumphant, long deserved snooze fest.
