Congratulations! You’ve made it to the final stretch of Spring 2026. The finish line is technically visible if you squint hard enough through the 3 research essays, 5 finals and the one group project where you’re forced to babysit a bunch of adult sized toddlers. If you feel the existential fog despite the recent sunshiney weather, you’re not alone. But you’re almost there. You just have to survive for 4 more weeks.
Here’s how.
Step 1: Make a List
The first thing you should do is open a fresh notes app page and write down everything you need to accomplish till final’s season. Do this in your best font or your neatest handwriting. Color code, add a header, use a bunch of cute stickers. Just go crazy.
Do look at this list again. It has served its purpose.
Step 2: Rotate your safe spaces
I get it, Butler felt like your home base all semester but at one point, it’ll start feeling like a place where any hope you have left will go to die. When this happens, relocate. Try the low library steps or book yourself a Milstein study room. When Milstein feels haunted, go to a cute cafe. Repeat till the end of finals season or emotional collapse, whichever comes first.
The key is movement. The moment your thoughts start spiraling, switch.
Step 3: Optimize your caffeine intake
You will undoubtedly need fuel. The question is not whether to caffeinate but how. When the time comes to pick your poison, whether it’s coffee, matcha or an energy drink, the campus has it all. Coffee from Liz’s, matcha from Blue Java and a Celciuml from the John Jay vending machines.
Step 4: Know when to take a break
There are inevitably going to be some days where you simply won’t be able to focus. You know it. On these days it’s completely okay to find adjacent activities that feel productive enough to quieten the guilt. Go on walks along riverside park, clean up your G drive or update your LinkedIn. Do not, however, go stalking your peers’ upcoming summer internships. You need to get out of the slump, not fall into another spiral.
Step 5: Make it to the other side
You will. You always do. Not because you had a color coded list or the right matcha on the right day, but because you’re here. You’ve already survived every hard thing before this one so believe in yourself ;)