Finals Insanity

The week before finals is an obviously stressful time for students. Even the most sane and docile students sometime come to the brink of a psychotic break when they realize they will be tested on a semester of information in 2 hours. Sounds pretty intense, there’s no getting around it.

I consider the majority of students at my school to be considerate, helpful, and overall genuinely nice people. So the weekend before my first finals week came as a shock to me. I was at the final party of the semester; my friends and I were all having a great time, meeting new people, and blowing off some steam before we were slammed with studying. Next thing I knew, all chaos ensued.

I ran to the stairs to see what the cause of the war cry I heard was, only to see a mosh put fight of about 15 boys in the living room below the stairs. Next thing I know, more boys jumped from the second floor staircase to join in on the mosh pit. It was honestly like a scene out of a movie, never before had I seen a fight at my school, people always seem to get along. I later learned the fight was a result of classic male territorial insecurities, but normally it would never escalate to such a brawl. There was only one explanation: Finals Frenzy.

Needless to say, stress gets to everyone. After experiencing my first finals week with relatively low stress and good results, I feel it is my civic duty to share any advice I have to keeping you from the point of psychotic break. I have complied the following DO’s and DONT’s:

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1. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL LAST MINUTE

Waiting until the last minute is detrimental! You cannot cram a semester of information in to one day of studying. And even if you decide to spend your whole day studying, there is no way you will be able to retain all the previously misunderstood information

2. DO TAKE STUDY BREAKS 

Burning yourself out helps nobody!! Take a break every time you start to feel yourself just mindlessly reading flashcards. My favorite breaks are ones that involve food of course, I liked to take breaks to go to the dining hall, get coffee, or take a drive to the town over and grab a cheap dinner with friends before going back to my notes.

3. DO GO TO REVIEW SESSIONS

Review sessions are your professor’s gift to you!! Wether it’s a TA or your professor running it, they can often hint as to major points that will be on the test, or provide a form of a study guide if they did not provide a physical copy. And it’s a better resource to get your questions answered than Google, because then you know the answer your teacher wants to hear!

4. DO NOT DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF SLEEP

Sleepless nights will only result in exhaustion, causing you to take in information less efficiently. And as much as I am a major believer in caffeine, it can’t change the natural function of your brains ability to retain information better when well rested.

5. DO GO OVER OLD NOTES AND TESTS

Holy crap this was probably the best thing I did for myself. I rewrote old notes that were difficult for me to understand and it helped me memorize the information so much better. And old tests showed me major concepts I didn’t understand with my TA’s corrections, which helped my understanding of it for the exam.

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I hope I can be your Advice Angie for the day and that although winter finals are over, you have a better idea of how to study for your spring finals. Sorry, don’t mean to remind you that those are looming as well…

May the odds be ever in your favor

Winter Break Demise

Winter break... the most sought after yet regrettable time for a college freshman. After weeks of stressing and agonizing over the idea of finals (not to mention your first ever college finals, bit terrifying), you finally made it. The exams are over, even if your exam was at the last possible time slot. Ugh. But you're done, its over. Mama, I'm comin' home!

Your parents roll up the car and you pack away excessive amount of clothes into the trunk for what seems like an eternal 5 week break. But that's all fine with you, you can't wait for real meals, a normal sized bed, and your dog to ecstatically greet you at the door. Not to mention the friends you haven't seen in months. But then you remember, what about the friends I've made at school? You've all become so close, hopefully that won't change in your 5 week absence. I mean after all, you still have the group message. That thing has never failed to set your phone off 24/7, why would it stop now? Now for the winter break breakdown -

Finally, the arrival, there's your puppy, just as you expected. Not at all confused as to who you are, and bouncing off the walls is an understatement. Mom is making your favorite dinner to perfection, you have a full sized TV to binge on Grey's Anatomy (for the second time..), and you have an entire room...to your self...UNIMAGINABLE! This is going to be a great vacation...for a week or so.

After a week or so, your siblings get on your nerves almost as much as your parents do. You have just about half the freedom and social life as you did it school. And couch potato-ing is getting old. The best friends you had from high school are still there, but the other ones seem to not be around as much as they used to. And you miss the fun times in your dorm room with your school friends. How much longer can you sit in this house??

Week 3: Mom is officially slacking on the cooking ("yes I am aware I am a spoiled brat"), you're closing in on the 6th season of Grey's Anatomy, and there is some SERIOUS weight being put on. Not to mention the lacking existence of your social life. And you just want your group chat back together!! Must. Get. Back. To. School.

Week 4: So close, yet so far. You've had so much free time you almost wish you had school work...almost. You've been putting in extensive energy into internships and job searches. And you've even attempted the hardcore gym thing, to no avail.

Week 5: THIS IS IT! You're going back next week, more excited than you were to come home. Although, you are savoring the peace and quiet of your room and the endless availability of free, non-dining hall food (thanks Mom and Dad). You're hanging out with your best friends for the last couple times. And although you'll miss them, you have NO intentions of coming back until they force you out of your dorm for spring break. The group chat notifications about being reunited are absolutely endless.

Then it's time, you're packing up even more clothes than you came with, cuddling your dog until you can't anymore, and you head out the door. Sure you're excited to go back, but there's a little tinge that will make you miss home. I guess its true after all, you always want what you can't have. Oh well, you'll be back soon enough. When the group chat is finally reunited, you all have major plans for your first weekend back. It's gonna be an amazing second semester. But...what the HELL are you gonna do for summer break. That's a whole other story.