The time has come. As you stand outside the door of your last class for the semester, the pure joy you felt for a brief moment begins to fade into oblivion. Dread breaks through and all you can do to stop the beginnings of a nervous twitch is to laugh loudly at absolutely nothing. But don’t worry. You’re not the only one. A silence has spread over campus like an angry cloud of smoke. Tumbleweed float through the center of town and stale laughter hangs in the air like old onions. Windows and doors bang close as large amounts of junk food disappear from convenience stores. No one says a word. Is this the apocalypse? Nope.
It’s finals week.
The most feared and dangerous week of the school year, finals week is on everyone’s mind this time of May. From passing/failing grades to wavering GPAs to 3 hours tests, there is no doubt finals cause an irremovable amount of stress on students. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this, but there are some treatments.
3 ways to REALLY study
1) Friends
Ok, study partners or studying in groups can be helpful. You can learn from each other and get more done in a small chunk of time. This is true. BUT, working in groups can wreck your study time too. If you aren’t in the mood to study (which if you’re a college student, you are NEVER in the mood), sitting in an enclosed space with 4 or 5 other friends can lead to a major disaster.
Reason #1: It really doesn’t take long to get off task. Really, it takes one cute cat YouTube video to get the whole gang watching consecutive YouTube videos for hours. Or maybe Jenny leaves to go a calm walk and the group falls into gossip mode for the remainder of the night. Suddenly, it’s 2 in the morning and no one knows what and when the French Revolution even was.
Reason#2: You’re all friends and friends fight. Simple. One argument and no one wants to study anymore. Now it’s drama and anger and WHY does Jenny hate me! Finals have us all stressed. More battles will not help.
So, maybe for your sake, take some time to study by yourself. Get the basics down before you attempt to lock yourself in a room with 5 other anxious and scared students. It might help in the end.
2)Phones
There is a devil and it’s called your cell phone. Perhaps the most important thing in your life. You have everything on this little box. You are no where without it, you are lost without it, you want it, you need it. It’s your baby.
Now, get rid of it. It’s a major distraction. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. From texts to music to twitter to facebook to every notification ever, phones will not allow you to get absolutely anything done. Nothing. So take your phone, your little precious angel and GET RID OF IT. Put it deep in your backpack, hide it in your dirty clothes hamper, tell your friend to hold it or turn it off completely. You have it 364 other days of the year. You can leave it for 5 hours. Not a big deal. And when you’re done, you can brag to all your friends how you didn’t touch a phone for more than a minute.
3) A Study Spot
You got to find a good place to study. You have to find a spot where you work best. If that’s the bright and loud library or all the cozy cafes around campus or maybe even your room, you need a spot where you feel comfortable and concentrated. Some students work well in noise, so if this is you go to a public campus area. Others need the calm and quiet to fully study, so find a little dorm conference room or a hidden away classroom. Do what best works for you. No need to make anything more different than it already is.
All in all, finals week is a b**ch. It’s scary and stressful and never seems to end, but remember you can make it easier for yourself. Get rid of distractions, find a place your comfortable with and crank out that studying.
Because when it’s all over, it’ll be the best feeling ever.
You = 1 vs Finals =0.