Perhaps the most dreaded week of every collegiette’s semester is fast approaching. I don’t even need to say the words because you already know what I’m talking about… finals week is upon us. Having been in college long enough to know what happens to the student body during this frantic time, I think it’s safe to say that finals week can sometimes have a strange effect on people. Most of us suffer from sleep deprivation because for some reason we think it’s okay to learn an entire semester’s worth of material in one week. We get cranky, stressed, and start questioning every previous decision we made to skip class and play catch up later. These are the 6 types of people you encounter during finals week:
1. The hard-to-find, prepared student.
Finals week seems to have no effect on the rarely spotted prepared student. They’ve been spending extra time in the library all semester, just waiting for the days when they can ace their exams and feel good about their accomplishments. This person typically isn’t the best to hang around with if you haven’t been studying on their level all semester because they might start to judge you for slacking off. They’ve got the whole week under control and you hate them for it, but at the same time you become somewhat jealous of their seemingly stress-free life.
2. Library tenants.
These are the people that go straight for the comfortable armchairs when they enter the library and don’t even start to look for a table. They’ve come with snacks and provisions because they absolutely plan to be living in the library until every piece of work is finished. No one really cares that they’re sleeping in the library because hey, finals week sucks for all of us. But we’re all secretly hoping that they take at least an hour or two to go home and shower semi-frequently. It’s best not to disturb a library squatter in action because they tend to be agitated when people try to take their staked out spot.
3. The overwhelmed freshman.
We’ve all been there at one point or another. One day you’re a fun loving and care free “mature” college student and the next day you suddenly realize that you have absolutely no idea what to do about studying for finals. I mean you’ve never actually done anything like this before so you’re absolutely scared for what’s going to happen. Anyone who’s had at least one year of college under their belt looks on at the overwhelmed freshman and sighs at the cluelessness. It’s extremely likely that all of their classes are Gen Ed and they haven’t even declared a major yet and until that happens, no one takes their stress seriously.
4. The Zen friend.
You love this person for the good they’re trying to do but at the same time they just don’t seem to get it. The Zen friend is going to be the person dropping notecards in random places with inspirational quotes written on them or encouraging you to invest in buying a stress ball. They’ll sit and listen to you complain about your impossible exams and stressful schedule but follow up the conversation with an offer to teach you meditation. Sure, meditation is beneficial for general mental health but you’re just not in the mood to try it and complaining about something is way easier than actually working to fix it. We should all probably be taking notes from the Zen friend but some things just aren’t going to change.
5. The professional procrastinator.
This person is flat out living in a world of denial. They don’t really want to believe that finals are actually going to happen and adamantly refuse to acknowledge the existence of cumulative exams. While you’ve been cranking out term papers they’ve reorganized their closet, napped three times, finished a TV series on Netflix, developed three different dream-wedding themes on Pinterest, and done every load of laundry. You keep trying to point out to them that it might be a good idea to just accept the reality and at least try to study but they continue to refuse. There’s nothing to be done for the professional procrastinator. At approximately 20 hours before their first exam they’re going to have a slight mental breakdown and finally begin studying.
6. Employed seniors.
You won’t catch this person freaking out in the library over their homework because they’ve practically got their whole life together already. They accepted a job months ago and have been coasting by ever since. This isn’t their first time at the rodeo and they can calculate the exact minimum they will need to study to just sustain the grades they already have. Idolized by underclassmen and hated by the seniors who still have no idea what’s going to happen after graduation, the employed senior is the envy of all.
Finals week may be absolutely crazy but it’s all about how you handle the pressure. To play it cool or completely stress out, the choice is all yours. Either way, know that for every rollercoaster of emotions you experience, there are at least a few thousand other people going through the same thing. Power through the week collegiettes because summer vacation is right around the corner and you deserve a great one!