We have all, at one time or another, been in a situation where we are at our breaking point. The oncoming fight or flight feeling sets in and you do not know if you are going to explode from the tension in your body, or if you are going to collapse from stress. Diving head first into finals week, this feeling is slowly becoming all too familiar.
For me in particular, I am a total mess. I tried to do laundry three different times this week; however, after forgetting to put my wet clothes in the drier for two days because of the amount of work I had to do, I knew that my week would be full of repeat outfits and no sleep. It is not a surprise, really. In the year and a half that I have been at SCAD, never has a quarter come up and bite me in the behind as hard and as quickly as Winter Quarter 2014 has. Clearly, it had to happen eventually. Classes are getting harder. Teachers are getting more intense. The allotted time for sleep is getting smaller and smaller.
I am positive I am not the only one feeling this way. Dragging yourself out of bed and to class is seems impossible. Dragging yourself anywhere, actually, is a production in itself. So where is the solace? Where is the light at the end of the tunnel?
Here it is: Winter Quarter ends in a week. Now, I know when I say that, it sounds ridiculous. You are probably saying something like ‘what do you mean I only have a week to do all of my projects and try to remember to do things that I need to survive?’ Trust me on this when I say I have typing it as much as you hate reading it. But if you have gone through a quarter at SCAD before, you know that what is waiting for you at the end of finals week usually involves a long, deep sleep and a much needed mixed drink the size of your head. There is the light. There is the tunnel. You just have to run head first into your projects and collect your prize at the end.
The key to getting through finals week in one piece is to pace yourself. Reward yourself through out the week when you have done an awesome job and buckle down when it is crunch time. Find an upbeat music mix on Spotify or Youtube to get you through long hours at your major building. Ask your roommate to take a walk with you if the stress gets to be too much.
One of my friends told me something when I was going through my Fall Quarter finals of Freshman year, and I feel the need to tell it to the readers of Her Campus: no project is worth your mental health. No project is worth giving up your dream of being at SCAD because it made you fly off the handle or break down to the point of no return. The process of getting through finals is a tricky one, but you can do it. If you don not get any other positive reinforcement to do your best, remember that you are at this school for a reason. They do not just let any poor soul into this school, and your professors want you to succeed. You can do this.
Now, go forth and blow Winter Quarter 2014 finals out of the water.