It has reached that time again where Thanksgiving has just passed and the big holiday season and Winter Break seems within our reach. As I walk around my neighborhood, I see people putting up lights around their yards and cars driving past with Christmas trees safely secured to the tops. The only thing separating us from celebrating the holidays are finals that wrap up the school year. Being on a semester system, this has been my first full semester completely online. While it’s been a transition, this will be our second round of having semester finals virtually following our spring semester. As the dreaded workload of the week draws closer, I’ve been reminiscing about previous semesters during this time.
For the first time in college, I probably will get a sufficient amount of sleep throughout the week because I essentially have the full days to study from the comfort of my home. This time around won’t include any all-nighters, late-night energy drink purchases or hours in the library, things I honestly took for granted and will miss dearly during this time. How I’ll miss freshman year when my best friend and I spent 10 hours in the library on a Saturday cramming but also enjoying each other company. Some of the most memorable experiences for me have come from this stressful and hectic time. I remember studying for physiology and whiteboarding so much that my pens kept dying. With the help of my friend, we stayed glued to our laptops that Saturday for the whole duration occasionally getting up to take a lap to relieve our feet and overloaded minds. I also feel quite nostalgic thinking about leaving the library with my friends at 3 AM only to wake up a couple of hours later to continue going over notes because I always seemed to start reviewing for all my exams too late.
You could say studying for finals at this time allows for fewer distractions, for me, this feels applicable. Studying for finals, however, are significantly lonelier because instead of relying on my friends to roast me or make me laugh when I realize how screwed I am for my final, I am sitting in my living room staring at my computer counting down the days until I’m done.
The only thing that I think has helped me stay engaged and motivated during this time has been reaching out to the people I would have been studying and spending time with in the library. While the idea of a zoom study session might not sound ideal for you, talking about and being focused on finals, deadlines and assignments has helped keep me personally aware that yes, I need to finish this semester strong. I have a lot more work and while I’d rather procrastinate as it is much easier to do at home, we have all made it through another term on Zoom. So, finishing strong in the hopes of our grades reflecting all the hard work we’ve put in only seems fitting.
Good luck to everyone during this time!