As Twitter, Snapchat, and every social media might have told you, finals season was upon us. For many, this is one of the most stressful seasons that exist. However, I am here to say that I disagree. As a mere high school student, I assumed that finals season meant spending every night in the library with three cups of coffee keeping me up, so I could pry my eyes open long enough to stay awake and study tediously. I also assumed that the bags around my eyes would grow much bigger, and my face would break out incredibly. As my first round of finals as a college student occurred, I found that this was not the case at all. In addition, one of my friends gets extremely excited for finals week, and at first, I wasn’t sure why. However, after this week, I’ve found the secret to her joy. 

First, during the bulk of the semester, we are all heavily involved. Clubs, Greek Life, Church groups, and whatever it may be, are the things that consume a lot of our time. Also, simply hanging out with your friends takes time out of the day. During the semester, we also find ourselves very involved with all our classwork. We have online homework due at midnight for one class, and an essay to write for another, all while we read a textbook for yet another class, and study for an exam. Sometimes, we may even have two exams for different classes, providing lots of stress on top of everything else. Whether we realize it or not, we’re simultaneously silently pondering these things and going through the massive to-do list that is constantly on a loop. Then, we factor in the social life to the school work- and BOOM. This leaves you to a choice on how to plan your day out. And if you want to go to the rec? Oh, forget about it. You can’t write an essay while you’re in kickboxing class, right? 

During the rest of the semester, we’re constantly forced to find a balance between these things, because we’re constantly under pressure to perform well in several different classes and different social aspects. We may wear many hats during the semester. However, during finals week, we only have one job and one hat to wear. That job is to study for exams that the entire university knows about. There is a clear schedule, and every single professor knows about the overwhelming pressure that finals week can cause. Personally, I only had one professor create a cumulative exam for this week. To say that I am blessed is an understatement. Also, taking away from my personal stress was the fact that I only had one exam per day, which is common for many students. 

Also, did you notice that there was much more free time this week? It may have been because there was a snowfall on Thursday, or that classes were not in session. The university gives us a lot of time to study during the day, resulting in a much freer night. This week is full of joy, because we only have our one job, and then get to reward ourselves with doing something fun during the evening. Some of us use that time to get excited about spending even more time in the library, but others use that to form even stronger relationships with one another. Either option is a very valid way to spend the night. 

Finals were not what I expected them to be. Quite frankly, they were the opposite. I did not drink one cup of coffee, and my eyes didn’t have any more bags in them than normal. It was quite strange. However, and as I was walking back from the Commons, I heard chimes coming from the trees, and realized how at peace this whole week was. The weather was beautiful, and the campus was as quiet as a church during the sermon. To be honest, I avoided the library the entire week because I felt as if the library this week would resemble the crowd of people who go to the gym right after the new year, and stop showing up around February. If you did spend all week in the library, I hope that you took a minute to stop moving at such a fast pace, realize that this week is a break in disguise, and play in the snow.