As you read the word finals you start to jitter and get butterflies in your stomach –and no it’s not the same feeling as your freshman year when you met that cute guy at the beginning of the semester in the dorms; who always said hi to you on the elevator after a long day of school.
At this point there should only be one thing on your mind and that is how to not only prepare for your final exams but how to pass them as well.
Now we all know the fact is that we all have other things to attend to and studying is the last thing on your mind. Therefore we must find other ways to do so even while at work, the gym, or even at that boring introduction to *insert college major here.* There are many ways to prepare for finals starting now rather than the weekend before finals, which we all know would be just like any other weekend dedicated to everything but studying. Once Monday morning hits and your final is in a few hours your stress level is over the roof, you suddenly begin to doubt yourself and begin to change your plans for summer and instead of going on a road trip to California or back packing in Europe your new plans would now consist of summer classes. Bummer right?
This is a dreadful thought to us all so instead of making that a reality, a few hours of your day studying would be a good motivator to stay on track! There are many ways to study throughout the day. The easiest way to study is to prepare flash cards and take them everywhere you go. You spend at least 20 minutes on the treadmill anyway why not add a little studying to it? Then there is actual studying which consists of sitting on your laptop and watching YouTube videos for an hour which begin with cats playing pianos and end with full episodes of Pretty Little Liars. Now we are all aware this is not the greatest approach to studying but it may work if we are actually focused on the task at hand and reward ourselves after at least 30 minutes of actual studying.
To those who absolutely can’t study in the day and decide to at night, caffeine is not your friend! Do not go to the breezeway and buy those famous “crack cookies” on your way to your dorm. Unless you’re actually willingly staying awake, adding these substances to the mix will actually make you lose focus and place you back to your original study habits. If your body isn’t well rested you will not be focused while studying and worse…you will not be focused the next day during the actual exam.
Once that dreadful day comes the best thing to do is remain calm and arrive early in order to get a head start if you will and not feel rushed. At this time yes you can grab your favorite Starbucks drink or even get into the holiday spirit and get a Gingerbread Latte! Or if you’re still watching your figure during this whole mayhem, a skinny Peppermint Mocha will do just fine.
Good luck, collegiettes! And may the odds be ever in your favor!