If you haven’t noticed already, there is a fresh scent of stress in the air. Why is this? Because here at Michigan, our midterm season is not one week, not two, but is legitimately everlasting. From about the end of September through almost the end of the semester, students are swamped with exams. And it’s the ones like that impossible Econ 101 test that makes you want to pull your hair out of your head because your stress is absolutely through the roof and you don’t know how to cope. Lucky for you, we have come up with some strategies on great ways to make you feel like nothing less than a million bucks during crunch time.
1. Exercise
There is nothing that makes you feel better than a good run on the tredmill or a good, well, whatever you call it on the elliptical. Exercise is great because it helps you release adrenaline, which makes you happy. Also, exercising always gives you that extra boost of energy you need in order to keep yourself awake and study later on. If you feel like you just need a break, head over to the CCRB, turn on the netflix app and enjoy yourself. One hour really won’t make the difference in your exam score.
2. “Treat Yo Self”
It’s never a bad idea to take a personal day and do something for yourself. Study a little bit, tell yourself you deserve it, pick something that makes you extremely happy, and go with it! Try getting a manicure around exam time, because there is NOTHING that puts us in a better mood than freshly painted nails.
3. Study buddies
Whenever you have an exam that requires extreme memorization, you may feel better sitting with a friend to go over the material. If anything, it not only motivates you to work, but also makes it a lot more fun. Example: Before my psychology exams (and believe me, I have had A LOT of those), I would always call up a friend. We would always meet at the library and go through absolutely everything. A lot of the time, we would make up funny ways to remember things. This always gave me a good chuckle AND to my benefit, it helped me remember the material on the tests because I could say, “Oh, that’s like that funny joke I made with Danny about ___”.
4. Wear comfortable clothing
Midterm season is the best excuse to wear your pajamas everywhere! Before and during your exams, you can wear your pajamas and slippers everywhere because it is one less thing to make you uncomfortable. Sometime when you have a bad professor, comfort is really what you need.
photo credit to http://www.educarelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/studying-watercolor…