It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a college student in possession of a full schedule will be absolutely miserable at the end of the semester. During this time of stress and procrastination, it’s important to keep your mental and emotional health in mind. However, I think there’s already enough articles out there giving you tips on how to relax and de-stress, advising everything from face masks to exercise. Rather than inundate you with more tips and tricks that may or may not be useful to you, I wanted to give you a few broader reminders to help put things in perspective. This is especially an article aimed at all overachievers: I see you, put down your pencil, and take a minute to take care of yourself!
1. You can recover from bad grades
During finals, the possibility of getting a bad grade can loom over you and the pressure can become a little overwhelming, especially since it’s the end of the semester and your finals are the last grade you’ll be getting in the class. Just remember that if you don’t get the grade you want, your life is not over. Some of you might be reading this and shaking your head, thinking of your scholarship or parents or that important class for your major. While getting a good grade might be really important to you, remember that NO MATTER WHAT, even if the worst-case scenario happens, you will survive. It sounds stupid and cliché, but adversity really does you stronger. (Always remember: Cs get degrees)
2. It’s okay to take a break
Look, this is the oldest finals advice in the book, but it’s important to hear. It may seem like you couldn’t possibly take a break, that it’s so lazy, nobody else is doing it, sleep is for the weak, etc. But if you don’t take breaks, even a ten-minute power nap or just walking around your room or laying on the floor and staring at your ceiling for two minutes (or reading some very entertaining Her Campus articles…), you will get burnt out and you will not do well and you will be miserable. Show yourself some love, eat a cookie, take a break!
3. Your self-worth should not be tied to a test score
Sometimes it can get easy to caught up in overachieving and getting the best GPA you can get, which isn’t always a bad thing. Having drive and being ambitious is great! But allowing that ambition to negatively affect your self-esteem is not. If you find yourself thinking “If I don’t do well, I’m a failure/worthless,” it’s time to take a step back and think critically about your relationship with work, maybe even make an appointment with the Counseling Center to work on developing a healthy relationship with your work.
4. You might not eat healthy—and that’s ok
Real talk, I am not one of those people who can eat a salad at the end of a stressful day. Sometimes you need a pizza or some ice cream, and that’s okay. I know I should be encouraging everyone to eat healthy and exercise because it will give you more energy, but that would be beyond dishonest of me. I do think that it’s important to take away the shame around unhealthy eating though. Don’t feel guilty about slipping with healthy eating during a stressful time, just do your best and be as healthy as you can after finals.
5. You’re so close!
Winter break is almost here and you should be proud that you’ve almost finished the semester! So, do your best, attack these finals, you’ve got this, I’m sure you’ll do great! Just make sure you take care of yourself and avoid the classic finals pitfalls that will make your life even more miserable than it needs to be.