We have spent countless hours in the library, drank too many cups of coffee, burnt holes into our textbooks from staring at them too long and now the apocalypse is upon us—I mean, finals week.
If you’re finding the stress slowly beating away at your sanity, not to worry. Here are some tips to keep you from jumping ship on exam day.
Get a good night sleep!
No matter how much you’ll study, nothing will screw you up more than lack of sleep. Remember all those facts you crammed into your head at 4 in the morning? Probably not, because your brain didn’t have time to retain the thoughts.
According to Professor Linden, a cognitive science professor here at Oxy, memory consolidation, or the brain’s process to form permanent memories, occurs best when the mind is less active i.e. when you’re sleeping! So make an effort to put the books down at some point and get a healthy amount of sleep, you’ll remember what you studied more effectively. It’s science!
Eat a big, healthy breakfast!
In college, finals can run up to four hours long and eventually even copious amounts of caffeine will not keep your body charged to finish that test. To get through an exam eat a breakfast that has a lot of healthy protein such as nuts, eggs, etc. The protein will keep you full and alert longer than sugary foods and carbs and allow you to perform at your best!
Come prepared!
And this is not just about having all the material read. Make sure to come in a few minutes early with everything you’ll need for the test such as pens, pencils, paper, etc. Nothing will send you into a stressed-out frenzy like forgetting your blue book. And asking around to borrow one while your peers are trying to concentrate will not help you or them. It will just create a poor, stressed testing environment.
Read the directions!!!
Don’t rush into a test without looking at the directions. They’re there for a reason: To make sure students understand what they have to do to best complete the test. For example, what if some questions have more than one correct answer and you’re allowed to circle ALL the best answers? Unfortunately, you didn’t read the directions, so you are left struggling trying to narrow it down between two correct answers, wasting precious time and decreasing your chances of getting a good grade. Nothing spells failure like not reading the directions.
Finally, breathe.
Take a deep, calming breath. You can do this. You’ve spent the past week studying, you’ve devoted more focus to the material in seven days then you did in the entire semester. And even if you didn’t, hey, it’s just a test right? Think about how little this one test will mean in the span of your life. So, as you sit down for the test relax, stretch out those tense muscles and just breathe. It’s only finals.
How are you handling your finals stress? Comment below and let us know how you’re dealing. And good luck to all the collegiettes™ out there dealing with finals! We at Her Campus Oxy are cheering you on!
Image credit: http://wsuwellness.wordpress.com