College students always seem to somehow have the absolute worst luck possible, and often times also hits us at the worst time possible. During the end of the quarter Murphy's law really seems to kick into high gear: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong during finals week. With a few of these scenarios already in my back pocket, I wouldn't wish these finals week disasters even on my worst enemies.
7. Your last exam is on Friday night of finals week.
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It can definitely be hard to stay focused studying for your last final of the quarter and even more of a challenge to stay motivated and not get burned out after having already pulling countless all-nighters preparing for exams earlier in the week. To make matters worse, most of your friends are already either back home relaxing and reunited with their families or blowing off some steam with a well deserved night out partying. A late exam is more of an annoyance than a handicap since it often allows for more time to spread out studying for other classes as well as more time to study (*ahem* procrastinate) for you last exam.
6. Your coffee maker breaks.
This one literally just happened to me last night. As someone who heavily depends on her daily intake of caffeine, and more so when I'm up all night cramming for a test the next day, my coffee maker breaking was an annoying inconvenience that I definitely did not need happening right as I needed it most. There are definitely other several easy ways to get your coffee fix, like resorting to drinking the instant coffee in the back of your cupboard or just simply stopping into Starbucks when the line isn't insanely long and you can afford it. However, who needs one more thing to worry about during finals week?
5. There is a power outage/internet is down.
This has happened several times throughout the course of my college career. For some reason, campus still hasn't come up with a way to combat the higher than normal volumes of students all studying at the same time. Either of these occurrences leads to students having to collect at off-campus apartments, fast food establishments, or simply give up on their attempts to not waste precious time and stay productive. Both the internet going down or the power going out hinder students' studying, and if you have an exam the next day, or a paper to turn in online by midnight, it can definitely severely affect your short-term academic success.
4. Your laptop breaks.
I am currently writing from the computer lab on campus because, you guessed it, my laptop broke right before the start of finals week. Luckily, I am one of those students who still takes notes by hand and have no major papers due that are being held hostage by my broken laptop. However, a broken laptop is still a HUGE inconvenience, but with every resource necessary for studying either being accessible by the internet or being textual, it's not the end of the world. Thank God for 24-hour libraries so I am still able to work whenever I need to, just unfortunately not from the comfort of my warm bed.
3. You get sick.
Getting sick during finals week could range anywhere from a mild annoyance to the complete incapability of being able to take your final exams. The combination of lack of sleep due to late night study sessions, an unhealthy diet consisting of fast food and drinking your weight in coffee, and an overwhelming amount of stress is a sure way to push your body to its weakest and most vulnerable. You are almost guaranteed to catch something, which makes focusing on reviewing nearly impossible. Try to take care of yourself, and if anything, make sure you carry around a travel size bottle of hand-sanitizer and a warm jacket for when you walk home late at night.
2. You show up to your exam without necessary testing materials.
Maybe you brought the wrong Scantron or broke your pencil bubbling in your ID number. Whatever the case, you will either have to pray that your peers are kind enough to help you out, or that you have enough time to run to the campus store. Prepare ahead and double check your backpack and the course syllabus to make sure that you have everything you need the night before.
1. You miss your final.
This has always been my greatest fear in college as well a reoccurring nightmare of mine every finals week. While I have never (*knock on wood*) missed a final, I have definitely almost slept through one had my roommate not woken me up and saved the day. With finals being worth a big majority of your grade, missing your final basically leads to a quarter's worth of hard work being wasted down the drain.
Finals week is arguably the most stressful part of every school year, and supplemental worries on top of exams only make surviving the week even harder. I hope that none of these common finals week blunders happen to anyone reading, but if they do, remember to relax and that you are more than your GPA. I wish everyone the best of luck studying!
