It's that time of year again. The time of year when the only things I want to eat are french fries and coffee. The time of year that tears will spontaneously fall down my face. The time of year where students are sleeping in corners of libraries, and if you listen closely you can hear screaming in the distance. That's right, it's finals. Tragic, I know, but here is a list of 5 actually helpful things you can do to prepare.
1. Drink Water
Caffeine dehydrates you. Dehydration is bad. Water hydrates you. Drink the damn water. Okay, really though, your brain sits in a nice bath of liquid, and as lovely as coffee is, it won't help your thinking muscle. When your body is dehydrated it goes into survival mode. You don't process information as well in survival mode. So drink water, think better, score higher.
2. Eat Good Food
Same goes for food. I don't care if you are craving a extra large order of fries, if all you've eaten that day is fast carbs and easily broken down sugars you are going to crash and it's not going to be pretty. Here are some easy ideas for study snacks. Keep this in mind, if you are studying all day you are basically working out. You wouldn't go run a marathon with only iced coffee and pizza in your stomach, but during the marathon you also wouldn't stop to gorge on slow metabolizing foods. Big hearty meals for main courses, nice power packed snacks. That's the way to do it.
3. Self-Care
I'm stressed, you're stressed, that student is still screaming in the distance. All around life basically sucks, but remember, your body doesn't work well in survival mode. Give it some breaks, set a bed time and do something relaxing before curling under the covers. Even if it's just a nice hot shower to wash away the tears and sweat.
4. Stop Cramming
I'm not going to tell you that you should have started studying earlier. I know that, you know that, your teachers know that when they see you sobbing in the halls. I will tell you that you should stop fearfully flipping through your notes before you take your test. Even if you feel like you aren't solid on a subject, flipping through notes in a panic will only cause you to second guess your answers throughout the whole test. Don't do it. Make a study sheet and look over that, it's far better to have condensed knowledge than trying to speed read and memorize messy notes that will only get jumbled in your head.
5. Sleep
I know, life sucks but you need sleep. Your body is a system, a system that has needs. Without sleep, you are not able to put knowledge into your long term memory banks. Without knowledge in your long term memory banks, you will learn nothing. Simple as that.
No matter how stressed you are in this moment just remember that you will get through this. Grades are not indicators of your worth. You are a whole person with hopes and dreams, that's so much more than a letter grade. Take care of yourself.
GOOD LUCK!
