Hey, you. I know it’s been a super long semester, but it’s also been pretty short, hasn’t it? Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were all off on sunny adventures to faraway beaches and tourist spots, eating yummy food with high energy best friends, not a care in the world? Wasn’t it just last week that we had that snow day where school was cancelled two days in a row, where we did nothing but eat take-out food and catch snowflakes on our tongues?

It’s fun to reminisce about the good times during finals week, when you weren’t bogged down by hours of studying and material that makes no sense to your tired, overworked brain. But it’s so worth it, fellow classmates. Because in just a few short weeks (and for some people, only a week!) we are about to be done with yet another year of college. Another year of endless memories, laughter, challenging classes, and football games. Another year of friendship, love, loss, motivation, and job opportunities. And now we’re here, right at the end, once again. About to embark on another beginning in just a few short weeks. Summer is just right around the corner. More beaches, sunny days, ice-cream outings, and endless afternoons of just you and your best friends.

But for right now it’s time to hunker down for finals and to get our head in the game. It’s time to make flashcards, organize our notebooks and binders, and review those practice questions we know we need to go over. It’s time to grab our study buddies, head to the library, write crazy chemistry formulas over the walls, and place foreign language flashcards all across the tables.

It’s worth it, friends. Sometimes it may not seem like it, like when it’s 2 a.m. and you’re about to pull another all-nighter at the library, or when you’re looking at four months’ worth of material at your disposal that you need to learn in four days, but it is. It really is. Classes are hard. I know this, you know this, your classmates and teachers know this. But it’s worth it.

Because if you hunker down this week, grab your textbooks and notes, I promise that you are going to do as well as you study. If you take the time and really concentrate on your studies, these next few weeks are going to turn out in your favor. You’re going to achieve the grade you want in the class, and you’re going to understand those calculus formulas that have been dragging you down all semester. You’re going to beat finals week and you’re going to finish your year with your head held high. You’re going to get those grades back with your 'A's and 'B's and you’re going to roll into summer with no worries at all.

And the best thing about finals week, I think, is knowing you’re not alone. Walking across campus or down the hallways of the library, you can look around you and see hundreds of other students doing exactly what you are—and you can’t help but feel a sense of pride and commitment to one another, knowing that you’re in this together, a whole school of students intent on acing their finals and doing well.

And what’s better than feeling like you have someone on your side, someone else who is going through the same situation as you are?

So go forward through these next few weeks knowing that I’m rooting for you. That we’re all rooting for you. Your parents, your friends, your teachers. We’re all cheering for your success, we all care about where you’re going. We all know you can excel.

I hope you know that you can too.