How To Not Study: Ways To Banish Stress During Finals

Finals are coming! All these weeks of studying, and what do you get? Exams that make you wish you could take the SATs/ACTs every year through college instead. Lack of sleep, food and fun make finals the least-enjoyable part of the semester, and arguably your entire college career. But, (sigh), they’re necessary. The stress and pressure that comes with them, however, is not.

Use these fun stress-busting activities, suggested by HC Team members and college girls around the country, to help get through finals with awesome grades and a clear head.

Animal therapy

There is nothing like a wagging tail, wet nose and puppy breath to make you forget your troubles and give in to those big eyes. Or, if you aren’t a dog person, kittens are equally cute and just as happy.

Some schools, such as Bowdoin College, have programs during finals that bring in therapy animals to help melt away some tension.

If your school doesn’t offer anything like this, find a local animal rescue, pet store or stable that allows the public to interact with the animals. You can also find a friend, neighbor, professor or TA's pet to play with (suggest taking them on a walk – you'll both win). Take an hour or two and let a cute face melt your heart and your worries.

Stay fit. Defeat stress.

As Elle Woods once said, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands.” While hopefully finals aren’t giving you a murderous outlook on life, it couldn’t help to get a little exercise and boost your endorphin levels.

“Something that my friends and I do is play midnight Frisbee on our school's quad. It's a lot of fun and no matter how old we get, it keeps our mind off of studying stress,” said Ngozi Ekeledo, a junior at Northwestern University and HC contributing writer. If you’d rather get out of the cold, hit the gym instead—a half hour on the treadmill will give you the energy boost you need to hit the books later on.

Also try:

• Going for a bike ride or run
• Getting your heart pumping with a game of Wii, DDR or Rockband
• Having an impromptu dance party with your friends, roommates or hallway! Check out this list of great classic dance songs to get you moving!