This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at McGill chapter.

Studying for finals is like running a really, really long marathon (that requires you to juggle and recite your multiplication tables simultaneously). You need to somehow balance eating and sleeping at regular intervals, while re-teaching yourself an entire semester’s worth of information for five different classes. By the end, you’re usually just happy you have your sanity. And wine – lots of wine.

Stage 1: You are eager and excited, like a first-grader ready for the big kid classroom. You have your backpack full, your hair is clean and shiny and you have just finished a wholesome breakfast. Off to the library we go!

Stage 2: Your day goes really well, and you get a lot done. However, as the clock nears 8:00 pm and you still haven’t eaten dinner, you can feel your brain slowly shutting down for the day. You finish the chapter looking like Beast and head home for the night.

Stage 3: You’re ready to go for Library: Round 800 (or so it feels), but you need to get more done in shorter amounts of time. And you need your brain to retain all of it. You know the perfect cure – COFFEE!

Stage 4: Your reincarnation by coffee has kept you alive for the first few days of exam season. Now your tolerance is up and you need about four coffees a day to sustain yourself. That can’t be good, and so begins The Crash. What goes up must come down, right?

Stage 5: Your crash has left you full of stress, and your body’s natural reaction is to eat. And eat. And eat, and eat, and eat.

Stage 6: You finally see the light: less eating, more studying. Back to the books you go – weary and slightly confused, but you do open a book. #AForEffort

Stage 7: You manage a couple pages of notes, and then your brain feels fried. This is usually the point when you realize you [feel as if you] are absolutely screwed. The “I hate school” mentality settles over your workspace, and you quietly leave your room in pursuit of some wine.

Stage 8: You attempt to entice your roommate with her favorite things so she quits being so productive and joins you in ignoring your descending GPA.

Stage 9: You snap back to reality (mostly because your roommate refuses your attempts to derail her study schedule), and realize you need to get yourself in order. The end is NEAR! ~self pep talk ensues~

You do everything like this:

You think you look like this:

But in reality, you spend all your time having conversations like this:

Stage 10: It’s the day of your final.

You write it like this:

And like this:

Stage 11: You made it! You run out of the exam like:

Stage 12: Finally, your break is here. You spend it asleep.

Image obtained from:

http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-good-luck-in-your-exam…

GIFs obtained from:

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