With winter approaching, the holiday season is unleashed! Fun festivities and kind gestures all season long. With so much joy in the air, there is still one thing that kills the mood… exam season!
Approaching the end of the semester is both exciting and stressful. Sometimes it feels like professors give us a huge load of assignments near the end at the same time, just so we can struggle. Of course that’s not the case, but when it does happen it can be very hard to manage. On top of that, we’re already starting to think about the holidays and don’t want to study or complete assignments! Unfortunately, as university students, we have to.
I’m going to share with you some of my tips that help me stay on task and not get too distracted by the winter festivities.
- Work Hard Now, Play Hard Later!
Think about the end of the semester this way; as soon as all of your assignments and exams are done, you’ll have at least one nice week long break from absolutely NO school. You can even use it as a “reward.” For example, my favourite part of the holidays is getting presents for all my loved ones. With studying during this time, it’s extremely difficult to get it done. What I do is get all my assignments out of the way as fast as I can (and as efficiently as I can), so I can start shopping! It really pays off to stay on top of your assignments instead of waiting until the last second because it will only be so much more difficult later on.
- Keep an Exam Agenda
With everything being online right now, it can get pretty confusing when trying to keep track of all of your exams. Some are take-homes, some can be final projects, and some are traditionally given during the university’s allotted data and 3-hour time limit. My suggestion is to put them all in a calendar and start with what comes first. If you have a final assignment as an “exam” and a timed test on the same day, I would suggest completing that assignment much sooner than the due date. This way you can get it off your shoulders and have full focus to study on your timed exam.
- You’re Not Alone!
Exam periods are extremely stressful and overwhelming, and sometimes it’s good to just talk about it. Speaking from experience, a lot of times I get in my head and think that I have more on my plate that I can handle. When I talk about it, I get another perspective on the matter and they can help me open my eyes to what I actually have in front of me. For example, I might stress out about all of my exams and assignments due around the same time, but a friend could help me with ways of managing that I never thought about.Not only that, but this time can be extremely lonely, so try to study in groups! Having a friend or a group with you while you complete assignments keeps you in a better mood. Sometimes you just need to let off some steam from how hard the material is, or just a break from it all. Having someone there can make studying a bit of fun, too.
Although there are so many other things to do to help you keep your head up during the
end of the semester, these are some of my tips. I hope this can help you out as much as
it helps me!