It happens to everyone at least once, and it happens to me every year. Your final final is done, but for whatever reason (transportation, weather, full moon), you can’t go home. You grab some soda from the dwindling supply at the back of the Jay’s Nest, trudge back to your room and hope that Netflix is enough to soothe your actually-on-fire brain. What’s worse, your best friends are all home already. You’re trapped, in the worst sense of the word.
Lucky for you, there are plenty of ways to make the most of this downtime and enjoy the twelve or so hours during which you’re holed up under a mountain of blankets. Here are just a few ways to keep yourself sane.
Make a pillow fort
Your roommate isn’t around, so it’s totally okay to pretend you’re actually five. There’s nothing cozier than a pillow-filled space under a lofted bed. Grab all of your throw blankets and pillows and your comforter, then get creative! By the time you finish making it and you’ve sunk into the softest fluffiness imaginable, you’re going to be drifting off and forgetting about how badly you bombed that chem final.
Bake something tasty
There’s nothing more comforting than the smell of chocolate chip cookies, so why not grab some ingredients from the local grocery store and make treats from scratch? Even if they’re burnt beyond recognition, they’ll probably still taste good… probably. And, if they do taste good, you’ll have some food for the road the next day. At the very least, your apartment or dorm kitchen will smell awesome.
Get up and dance
I’ll admit, this is my go-to thing to do when I’ve got the place all to myself. It’s good to be considerate of those still studying for finals, but it’s also good to shake all that tension out of your body. Put on an upbeat playlist of your favorite songs and jam along right in the middle of the room—heck, you can jump on the beds, do cartwheels on the carpet or even climb the walls if that’s your fancy.
Invite Your Friends Over
I’m no mathematician, but chances are at least one of your friends will be stuck on campus, too. If they’ve got no more finals to worry about, or if they just want a break from all that studying, invite them over and do any of the above activities. You could also gather all of your old homework sheets and sacrifice them to a higher power, but that’s optional.
Write a “Year In Review”
As the New Year inches closer and closer, it’s important to look back on the best parts of the past year. You’re already in the midst of purging the quadratic formula from your head, so why not get some of your happier memories down on paper? Split up the page into months and write some of your best memories from the year. Challenge yourself to put five things under each month. You’ll be able to cherish those happy memories, and it’ll serve as a nice distraction from any post-exam anxiety you may be feeling.