Horror movie marathons, Halloween Haunt, piles upon piles of candy, costumes everywhere, and the distinct sound of students screaming. Not from the movies or haunted houses, as you might think, but from the most terrifying evil one can experience during this time of year: midterms. Here are my top five tips for surviving the dreaded Midterm Season!
1. Reward Yourself
When studying, it’s important to keep yourself motivated; rewarding yourself with snacks or short breaks after reaching pre-set checkpoints is a great way to keep that motivation up!
2. Joining a Study Group
Before a midterm, I always try to meet up with friends so we can study together. Study groups are great for discussing key course themes, concepts, and areas of confusion. Not only does it a provide a platform for each person to ask questions and take turns explaining the concepts they do understand, it’s also a really good bonding experience and a great way to further your friendship with others in your class!
3. Study Snacks
While this item on the list may sound similar to the first one they’re actually two different and equally important parts of surviving Midterm Season! While sweet treats are great rewards to give yourself, eating healthy snacks like chopped vegetables or fresh fruits while studying not only keeps the munchies at bay and helps you stay healthy, but also helps make studying slightly less painful and stressful!
4. The Perfect Study Playlist
For me, having music or some kind of audio playing in the background is essential. Personally, Roy Kim is a must have artist, along with similar artists like Ed Sheeran, Hong Dae Kwang, Lily Kershaw, and many others who tend to produce calmer, more relaxing songs. Your playlist doesn’t have to be quiet though! It can be bubbly pop music, heavy rock: anything that helps you focus!
5. Rest
This means more than getting enough sleep, although making sure you get a good night’s sleep before an exam is always beneficial. During Midterm Season, it is important that you take time away from all the chaos to just breathe and not think about school or anything of consequence. This helps my mind prevent itself from going into overdrive that ultimately leads to me remembering even less of the material.
These tips are my keys to surviving the hell that is midterms, but there really is no one-size-fits-all trick! The key is to know yourself, and find out what works best for you, what music you like in the background, or if you find music to be too distracting; how long you can go before you need a break; how you can rest after studying; what snacks you like, or if you like study snacks at all. Ultimately, the most important thing is to take care of yourself, and your health: mental, emotional, and physical. It’s important to remember that your grades do not define you, and if you fail one exam, you are not a failure. One exam will not determine the rest of your time at York. Good luck, everyone! We’re halfway through the semester!