Just like every other semester you promised that this year was going to be different. This was going to be the semester that you kicked ass and finally got everything together. You were going to do the readings every day and you told yourself that you were gonna start assignments, essays, and projects earlier so that you weren't doing it until five in the morning. Then December comes around and you realize you've been taking a study break for the entire semester and now it's the final two weeks of school. The dreaded final weeks result in all night study sessions and an increase in your Starbucks bill. Here are the stages of finals week:
1. Determination
"I got this! I'm going to study every day for at least two hours so that when the final comes up on Friday I would have studied for at least ten hours."
2. Denial
You remember taking a bunch of notes, and scientifically speaking you're more likely to remember something if you write it down, so you cut down your studying to an hour every day since your brain probably has it all stored somewhere and it'll come out when most needed.
3. Fear
You open your textbook or notebook and you realize you don't remember learning one of these things. You don't even remember what class you're studying for. It all becomes a new language to the point where you don't know if you signed up for bio or Chinese.
4. The first emotional breakdown
Oh man, this one's rough. It usually happens in between your first and third attempt to study and you still have no idea what the hell is going on. You scream, you cry, you may even throw a textbook across the room, but the first mental breakdown is not pretty.
5. Contemplating your life decisions
You lie on your bed, think of dropping out and starting a career in something that doesn't require a college degree. "What was I even thinking by wanting to go to college? Why would I put myself through this torture?"
6. Giving up
There's no why you're passing all your finals, so you decide to give up. You can't take it any longer. Instead of studying you decide to take two-hour-long naps because A. They rock an B. because everyone knows you need a good amount of sleep to even attempt to study.7. Your confidence comes back
Nothing can stop you now! You decide that a week's worth of torture is worth saving your GPA, so you crack open your books and have another try.
8. You decide to take a study break
You tell yourself you're only can watch one episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," which actually becomes three seasons.
9. You tell yourself you're gonna get back to studying but become distracted
Anything seems more fun. Throwing pencils at the wall, walking back and forth from your bed to the fridge 1,000 times, even cleaning sounds better than studying. You'd do anything just to get out of studying.
10. Repeat until the night before the final
You repeat this vicious cycle until the night before your final.
11. You realize your final is tomorrow
You realize you didn't study at all and your final is tomorrow.
12. You buy pounds of coffee at the grocery store to pull an all-nighter
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
13. You take what you think is going to be a nap but you wake up 30 minutes before your final
You run and get ready praying nothing goes wrong on your commute to school.
14. You blank"Did we even learn this? The professor did not put this on the study guide. Are they even allowed to put random questions on the final? I wonder if anyone else is struggling right now too."
15. You're finally done!
You feel like going out and celebrating! You survived finals! As anxious as you may be about getting your grade back, it's done. Now go crazy and sleep for more than five hours!
