How to Push Through Midterm Week

The key to acing midterms without getting too stressed out is proper time management. Scheduling time to study will help you avoid procrastination and actually follow through with studying. I am the CEO of procrastinating, but when I tell myself I have to study within a specific time frame, it helps me stay motivated because there is a clear end in sight. I know that if I dedicate the allotted time to studying without any distractions, once the time I allotted is up, I can move on to do other things while still feeling productive and accomplished. This is such a better alternative to saying you are going to “study all-night” when in reality that means spending some time studying and then procrastinating by scrolling through TikTok.

I know midterm week can be extremely time-consuming. It can feel like there is no time for anything else besides going to class and studying. However, to perform well on exams, your body has to be nourished. By not properly hydrating yourself and eating, you will feel sluggish and overall worse than if you took that 30-minute break to eat a yummy meal. Eating and sleeping are just as important to doing well on an exam as studying is, so take the time to do so. Your body is the vessel for your knowledge and your studies, so keep it happy and healthy!

As I mentioned before, I am the CEO and President of procrastination. Giving myself something to look forward to after studying is the best thing I have ever done for myself. Usually, when I procrastinate, it’s because I am dreading the idea of starting or continuing the task at hand. However, if I know I can do something I really want to do right after the work is finished, I fly through it because I just want to get to that. Procrastinating will only make it take longer to get to the activity I want to do, so I avoid it. The activity can be something as big as going out to eat or as small as watching something on Netflix. My go-to activity is catching up on The Bachelorette.

I can not stress enough how good study groups are for getting work done. Studying can feel like a torturous and daunting task when you are doing it on your own. However, when you study with friends, it feels like a social event. It can be very comforting and stress relieving knowing you are all in it together. It is nice having someone to clarify material for you or even just having someone to relate to.

The big picture is that your grades do not define you or your worth. I had a professor in high school once tell me that you can control efforts, not results, and that has stuck with me. If you study and do your best, it does not matter what the grade is, because you did everything you can do, and the grade is irrelevant. Ten years from now, you will not remember what grade you got in that one class, and in the grand scheme of things, it is absolutely insignificant. You are doing amazing, I am proud of you, and you should be too!