As a senior, in theory I should have some tricks for how to make finals week less stressful…however I don’t. All I can say is that I haven’t died yet, or failed…well actually that’s not true. I’m almost positive I failed my Latin final freshman year, but that doesn’t really count because it’s Latin and it was only like 10% of my grade sooo, whatever. Anyways, the following are my finals week insights. Good luck:
1. Caffeine. Gotta love that free bookstore coffee. I would love the bookstore a lot more if they had free Redbull, but beggars can’t be choosers.
2. Work with a group of people. Misery loves company. It makes me feel better when I know I’m not the only person that’s suffering. However, this won’t work if:
a. You study with high-strung people—they’ll truly test your sanity.
b. Or if you study with people who claim they have an “easy” finals week. I mean, obviously.
3. Wake up relatively early so that way you can stake a good spot in the libs or one of those rooms in lower Peirce (or just know someone that wakes up early who can save you a good spot). I personally like Peirce because of the proximity to the never-ending supply of diet coke and burnt coffee.
4. Don’t freak yourself out. Panic attacks are unproductive and even though you have a 6:30 pm exam and haven’t started that 12-pager due at 8:30 am the next day, you will most likely not physically die.
5. Don’t pay attention to that person crying next to you in Gund at 3am. If you do, chances are you’ll start crying too.
6. Take breaks –but actually. It gives you something to work towards and allows your brain to refresh.
7. Although you should be trying to get as much rest as possible, in reality you’re probably not going to be getting enough. Don’t think about how little sleep you’re getting, it’s just going to make you feel more tired. And I’m just going to throw this out there, a six hour per night average is a luxury, don’t forget it.
8. Save everything like you’re life depends on it. Like actually obsess about it, because if you lose that 10-page paper you’ve been working on (and that’s casually 35% of your grade) you’re actually going to want to stab your eyeballs out.
9. Now is definitely the time to check out the science quad if you haven’t already done so. There are a bunch of random nooks and study spaces and not that many math majors.
10. Don’t stress too much. It’s still possible that our finals won’t even count since the end the semester and the end of the world (according to the ancient Mayan calendar) conveniently fall on the same day.