Midterms come every year, and each semester for college students. To give them credit, they are out there for a purpose. Midterms are there to test a students abilities and see what they have learned thus far within their courses. On one hand, midterms cause an immense amount of stress. Midterms cause breakdowns, emotional baggage such as stressing out, freaking out and panicking. Lacking hours upon hours of sleep tends to happen as we see students locking themselves in the Library or study rooms until wee hours of the morning. However, on the other hand, there is a way to stay cool, calm and collected during midterms. There are ways to approach the situation at hand and make it a much lighter one. And, here are 10 ways to remember and get you through midterms.
1. Remember that sleep IS imperative.
even though it many not seem like it, sleep is needed in order to perform well in school throughout the various ways one learns and is tested. Sleep is imperative as it restores your memory and helps you to maintain information.
2. Remember to EAT HEALTHY
I would have to say that in my opinion, this is one of the most important ones. Having the right amount of nutrition in your diet is the key to success. This will not only help to keep you awake and energized at the right times, but eating healthy will also be there as brain food to strengthen your mind, and help you understand the given task at hand.
3. Make a plan(ner) and STICK to it
Writing down what you have to do, where you have to do it and when you have to do it is so important. Being on top of your game and organized is something that we all need, especially during midterms. A good strategy would be to purchase a planner if you don't already have one and write down in chronological order, the studying you have to do for each subject at certain times. This will help you to maintain a structure.
4. Stay Confident
Staying confident is another essential key to doing well on your midterms. You have to believe in yourself, because how can anyone else believe in you if you don't believe in yourself for starters? You need to be able to remind yourself that you CAN do this. It will eventually pass, and you will be on to the next thing. Try to focus on all that you DO know rather than what you are struggling with. Remind yourself of your self-worth and intelligence.
5. Do what makes YOU happy
Yes for the majority of the time, pre-midterms you should be studying, but you should also be doing things that make you happy to relieve the stress and bring a smile to your face. Activities both indoors and outdoors are great ideas such as art, sports, beauty or anything you can think of that puts you in a positive state of mind.
6. Exercise!
Being active is yet ANOTHER thing that is so important to us during midterms! When you exercise, this helps to release endorphins inside of the human body which tends to make people feel good about themselves and happy. This will help to relieve stress and anxiety during these pressuring times and will make you feel nice and calm. This is also another healthy outlet to go to alongside with doing activities that make you happy and eating right.
7. Surround yourself with other people studying
It is always good to surround yourself with people who have similar and/or the same agendas as you. This is good because it will help to keep you on track during the midterm season. You can not only study with these people but get to know them and then maybe even become friends with them. It is a great way to get to know people while doing well and staying on track.
8. Focus on one thing at a time.
Do not push yourself too much. Just take each assignment one by one, and focus on it. Do not rush into the next subject trying to get one done and onto the next, because this will just cause you to miss imperative information that you could have understood if you were taking your time! Remember to take your time! Just focus on the given problem at hand and eventually you will get to the next. The timing isn't as harsh as you think and take it easy.
9. Do NOT Save Everything Until Last Minute.
Pace yourself. Trust me when I say that pacing yourself and doing things ahead of time is actually a good thing and will benefit you in the long run. Saving for last minute only causes MORE stress and anxiety when it comes time to take the exams. If you do things ahead of time, this gives you more time to relax and take it easy right before the big exams.
10. Remember these are JUST exams and you WILL do well.
Just like having self-confidence, you gotta believe in yourself! Know that you have this in the bag and it is up to you whether or not you want to do well. At the end of the day, midterms are merely exams and there is much more to this world than exams. However, with all seriousness, do take them seriously as they do count and not only if you do well will help your GPA out, but also midterms will teach you information that can be and will be highly imperative within the future.
