It is finally here—Week 10, otherwise known as Dead Week. It’s the week before college finals, where students are frantically studying and gathering all needed information before taking a test that proves their knowledge of the course. Here’s a list of things to do and not-to-do during Dead Week before the wrath of finals is upon us!
Do: Go Grocery Shopping
You’ll barely have time to shop for food and it’s much more convenient and cheaper to make snacks and meals at home rather than buying food on campus or at a restaurant. However, grocery shopping for finals week isn’t like any other week. Shop smart! Think about what you’ll have time to make yourself. Easy lunches may include ham or tuna sandwiches and quesadillas along with a side of yogurt or fruit. Quick dinners will probably consist of pasta with marinara sauce, or frozen chicken tenders. Another thing to keep in mind is what can be easily taken and eaten in the library while studying. Snacks? Try granola bars, chips, and baby carrots.
Don’t: Eat Fast Food Every Night
It’s okay to eat fast food every so often, but you’re wallet will sure feel the cost. Fast food can get expensive and it’s not exactly the healthiest thing you can eat. Resort to the 24-hour drive thru when you absolutely have nothing in the fridge or when you really need to enter into crunch time to finish that Sociology paper. You’ll have plenty of time to really pig out on food that’s worth it once you’re home for Spring Break.
Do: Clean Your Room & Do Laundry
During Finals Week after long days of studying, there’s nothing more relaxing than coming home to a nice clean room. If you’re room isn’t clean, now would be the time to do it. Also, consider doing all your laundry, including your bed sheets. You don’t want to have to pick out a pair of dirty socks from your hamper because you ran out of a clean pair. Remember: a clean room is a clean mind.
Don’t: Leave A Mess Until After Finals Are Over
Yay! You made it through the week and now it’s time to go home! However, there’s a pile of dirty laundry everywhere, and papers scattered all over your work space, and dirty dishes to be washed in the sink. You’ve probably pulled a couple all-nighters during these last two weeks of the quarter, and doing a couple hours of chores once you’re done, isn’t exactly a reward for your hard work.
[pagebreak]
Do: Catch Up on Readings
Don’t: Wait Til the Night Before
Do you really think you can read a quarter’s worth of material in one night? If so, then bravo but for the rest of us, probably not. And you most likely won’t even remember half of the things you read if you try to cram it all in one night. Use your energy efficiently!
Do: Form Study Groups
Get together with some friends in the class and start studying! Study rooms at Orbach and Rivera Libraries offer a great quiet place to study for a few hours. Barely know anyone in the class? Don’t worry, you’re probably not alone. Utilize the “Send E-mail” icon on iLearn and email your fellow peers in your discussion or lab section if they’re interested in forming a study group. It’s a little less awkward and annoying if your emailing thirty kids rather than three hundred.
Don’t: Have Your Friends Teach You Everything. Ask Questions!
Study groups are meant to discuss material, not relearn everything from all ten weeks. Try to contribute to everyone’s learning by asking questions that require more critical thinking. For example, it’s one thing to solve a synthesis problem in organic chemistry, but are there reactants that could’ve been used to yield the same product? Instead of knowing all the different gender theories for your Women’s Studies class, ask yourself how these can be applied today and give some examples.
Pictures taken by our lovely photographer Tonye’ Doukpolagha