Finals season.

An intense, make-it-or-break-it time of the semester that ultimately determines the sort of GPA you will be awarded (or burdened) with for the rest of your college career. A time that separates the weak from the strong, the men from the boys, the time management gods from the procrastinating mortals. A time that notoriously leaves college students with inhumane sleep schedules, torn apart immune systems, and tears in their eyes.

A time that notoriously sneaks up on students.

Spring break was great! Feels like a midway point for the semester, the week after we get a bunch of assignments back and we think, "yea, the semester's halfway-ish over, but I have plenty of time to chill and relax before worrying about finals!!".

We feel like this little in between period is like a month-long vacation of just going through the motions of classes and little quizzes and assignments, not feeling like we need to begin worrying about actually learning the materials and thinking about our final papers and exams.

WRONG. You have one month.

That is really not a long time in college-world, so do yourself a favor and start thinking about your finals.

Make a schedule of when your finals are and how difficult each one will be. There's a massive difference between the time you need to a lot for studying for a 50-question multiple choice final and a 15-page final paper. This was a lesson I learned the hard way in the great 'Do All Of My Studying 24 Hours Before They're Due' catastrophe of 2017. I was but a child.

Start going over class notes. The notes that you frantically scribbled down during class as your professor flipped through the powerpoint. The textbook notes that you mindlessly jotted into your notebook one late night before a journal check. Or even the lecture notes that you somehow wrote but completely did not process because you were too busy worrying about the bazillion other assignments you had due that week. Start studying them, actually learning the notes you wrote or typed. This will save you time and energy in the long run.

You have one month to save yourself from the tiring, marathon studying, working, and writing that is finals. Start studying now, before it's too late.