Here we are, back at school after spring break and there are less than five weeks left. As is a typical feeling in college, you feel two contrasting emotions that somehow seem to make sense to you. One, you want time to speed the heck up to the week of exams so you can finally be free of late night crash studying and excessive coffee drinking and have it be four months of sunny freedom. Two, you want time to slow the heck down because you have two group projects, a twenty page paper, and three finals to study for all due in the next four weeks. And you haven’t started any of them. Life is all about getting through these next four weeks and having as much fun as you can along the way. So here is the go-to guide for how to get through to finals week.
1) Get ahead on work.
I know. This is what we all tell ourselves we are going to do when we’re laying in bed at night stressing over all of the work we have to complete. But seriously! If you do work ahead of time, you won’t get overwhelmed at the end and you’ll have more freedom to enjoy the last couple weeks of college.
2) Take a night with your friends.
Soon everyone will be going home and, if you’re like me, most of your closest friends at St. Mike’s don’t live in your state. While all of you are still so close to each other, take a night for just you guys. Go out to dinner, bum around Church Street or the waterfront, go hiking, go to a concert at Higher Ground, see a movie etc. Spend some quality time with the people who have helped you through to this point.
3) Plan to do something during the summer.
There are so many studies about how beneficial taking a vacation is, but even more about how simply planning and prepping for one improves one’s emotional state. By planning anything for the summer (road trip, hiking excursion, vacation, music festival) you will naturally improve your emotional state as well as give yourself something to look forward to, some idea to focus on to get you through these last four weeks!
4) Earth Day
Earth Day is April 22nd and it is huge at St. Mike’s. Everyone goes outside and hangs out on the 3’s field playing frisbee or KanJam or soccer and there’s free locally sourced burgers and live music. It was one of my favorite days of April last year! It acts as a reminder that summer is indeed just around the corner.
5) P-Day
P-Day stands for Preparation Day in which all St. Mike’s students have one more wild day before finals. Food tents come in, giant bouncy houses, comedians, live music, etc. It goes on all day and acts as a day to let go of all of your stress and worry! It give you an excuse to have fun all day long without feeling that guilt that you should be studying.
6) Housing
Housing is equal parts stressful and exciting. Everyone likes novelty and what could be more novel than a new place to live! New housing is the definition of excitement because you know it’s going to be better than this year’s and all you can think about are the many opportunities that come with it. This especially applies to rising juniors and seniors with townhouses and suites, but also applies to rising sophomores.
7) Class Registration
Class registration is in the same category. Whether you loved, hated, or didn’t really care about your classes this semester, registering for new classes is awesome. If you loved your classes, you know which professors and disciplines you want to take more classes in. If you hated or didn’t care about your classes it is just the opposite, and perhaps even more importantly, you know who and what not to take for class. You also get to revamp your schedule and look forward to fall semester’s opportunities.
In general, the best way to get through these last four weeks is finding something to latch onto and use to motivate yourself into getting work done and done well. Having something to look forward to makes it easier to get assignments done ahead of time, so you have more freedom to enjoy yourself later. Most importantly though, take some time to appreciate St. Michael’s College and to appreciate yourself. Look at all you’ve done this academic year and treat yourself for all of the late nights and hard work you’ve put in to get to where you are. Good luck in these last few weeks, and enjoy them as much as you can.