That dreaded hour is upon us. Finals week is here, and to help you make it through all of the emotions and grievances that go along with trying to relearn a 300 level course in two nights, here are five songs to help you through the five stages of studying for finals.
Stage One: Who Needs Studying?
Your professor told you that your final wasn’t cumulative and you breathed a sigh of relief. You put studying for that class on the back burner while you spend your time doing more fun and enjoyable activities, like taking advantage of all of the parties that filled up your Dead Week. That paper isn’t due until next Wednesday, your group project doesn’t present until Monday. You have the entire week to prep and set up for a great and painless finals week. While you’re avoiding all responsibility, you can rock out to “I Do What I Love” by Ellie Goulding.
Stage Two: I Should Probably Hit the Books
As finals week begins to rear its ugly head, you make plans to commit to studying for a few hours a day at Gorgas library. You’ll be much more focused and ready for success in a library setting because frankly, your dorm hasn’t been cutting it. Your common room is rife with interruptions and your roommate (who didn’t have any finals this week, the lucky duck) is already planning her trip home. So rather than reminisce about returning home, it’s better to be somewhere completely devoid of distraction. On the walk there, you can listen to “Library” off Bridgit Mendler’s new EP Nemesis.
Stage Three: Did We Even Learn This In Class??
Panic is starting to set in. As you pore over half a semester’s worth of material and skim through your classmate’s forwarded notes, you realize this is an impossible task. You couldn’t master all this material in three months, let alone three nights! Even though C’s get degrees, you might not even pull that off at this point. All of those classes you slept through, taking advantage of the lax attendance policy, all the lab assignments you copied off of from your lab partner majoring in Earth Sciences; it’s all leading up to this moment. As your eyes start to glaze over, listen to Everything Everything’s song “Regret.”
Stage Four: The Breaking Point
You need to take a minute to collect yourself. The handicapped stall in the first floor bathroom will do. Have a good stress cry. “2 AM (Breathe)” by Anna Nalick is the perfect throwback to ugly cry to. No one will judge you in those hallowed stalls. Remember that pain is temporary, and that degree will be worth it. It’s important to cut yourself some slack in the final hours of your all-nighter. As the sun rises on exam day, have faith in yourself, collegiette. You’ve put in the hours (sort of) and you’ve emerged, a bit worse for the wear, but still ready to march into your lecture hall for the last time. You’ve got this.
Stage Five: We Made It!
It’s out of your hands now. There were some laughs. There were a whole lot of tears. You feel a weird sense of calm about it all, now that it’s actually over. You get to look forward to going home for the holidays and you get to spend the next three weeks doing absolutely nothing. Ah, bliss. It was all worth it in the end. So before your final grades get posted, you can feel good about the fact that you survived finals week with most of your dignity and sanity intact. As you pack, let Lenka serenade you with her poppy song “Everything’s Okay.”