Finals week. The week that test the endurance, strength, and sleep of every college student. Some students can endure and come out without a scratch. Others come out looking like a tornado just passed through. These students could survive a zombie apocalypse. Just let them hole up inside the library and nobody gets hurt. Or beaten to death with a bat…. Too soon?

Back to the point. Finals week is the week every freshman has heard horror stories about, have either just endured, or are still going through. Be brave freshman, the eye of the storm is just ahead. While we all experience finals, and find our own survival techniques, we can all agree to have ridden the emotional roller coaster.

We have all had that anxiety roller coaster. The Hulk ride at Islands of Adventure can't even compare to this monster. In the beginning, we all think the same, during the middle we find the strength to survive, and at the finish line we all want to do the slow-motion jump at the end of 80's films. But, lets travel down this yellow brick road of emotions together. As Jack once said on Lost, "But if we can't live together were gonna die alone." (If you don’t know the show Lost I highly recommend it.)

Let's start with the week prior to dooms day, or week really. Step one is going to ALL the classes. Even the ones we've only shown up for twice, we go. The reason is because it's review week. This is when students receive their life preserve so to speak. They get their study guides, the last-minute hint hint wink wink nudge nudge notes from professors.

Now some students are instead given an essay prompt. The dreaded four to six-page paper that in all honesty, every student would rather have instead of an actual exam. This is the week where were told what we need to know, how to get the information, and where the tutoring center is on campus. We're ready. Finals week should fear us, not us fear it. But that’s before the eve of the first final.

Now it's the day before your first final. It's dooms week. All that confidence we had the previous week is gone, the life preserves aren't keeping us afloat, they're drowning us now. Where did all that time go? I had a week to prepare? HOW DID I MESS THIS UP? Instead of studying we were all watching Netflix. Netflix is every college student's kryptonite. Those days of studying have passed, times up. You either did one of two things before this day. You either watched Netflix the entire time thinking, "It's OK finals are like a week away, I'll be fine," or," I'll study for a couple minutes. Just the cliff-notes." Now it's the night before and you're drinking so much coffee Lorelei and Rory would be concerned. You're spending hours on end, trying to get all that information in for that first exam, or finish that paper. The others must wait their turn.

It's the first day. You’ve managed to get enough information in to at least make a C on that final. You've survived round one. Now it’s time to prepare for round two. This is when you hunker down in your study zone. Now this may be your room, the library, the coffee shop down the street, or that one place nobody knows about. Or should ever know about…not judging. Get your coffee, some food, and headphones to either listen to music or just zone everything out. It's study time for the next exam, or writing that paper. You're studying just as hard for this exam as you were for that last one, or it’s that one exam you’re not concerned about and can take a nap. Lord knows you need them. Every student continues this method throughout the week. That’s when everybody starts to show signs of fatigue and exhaustion. But they must continue, they must survive.

But you've done it. You've taken your last exam. The nightmare is over.... sort of. After you return those textbooks the realization sets in. Now it’s the waiting period. The time that students wonder if they passed their classes this semester or not. This is when students are waiting for the all clear. Sure, you go out and celebrate that it’s over, its finished. But deep inside you feel the dread of class grades. "It's only a couple days away I can wait it out," said every college student ever. Those couple of days are the longest days of a college student’s life. We start doing the math to see what we need on the final to pass, or if we bomb how bad that could hurt us in the end. "What's taking the professors so long?! They have the grades sitting right in front of them! Just post them all ready." Once the grades are posted it's officially done. It's over. The semester has finally ended. You're free.

What people don't realize though, is that those grades can make or break a student. We're told throughout our lives that college is the only option. You can't do anything in life unless you have a college degree. So, when you see those first semester grades, and see that you've barely passed classes, or failed them, then what? We've already survived finals week, but when we see the results we panic. We start to wonder what if I’m not cut out for this. Or whether this is something we want to do for the rest of our lives. Students then experience the college crisis.

The college crisis is that moment when you start to question everything you've accomplished so far. Some students get through it and continue their college career. Sometimes with the same major they started with, or they change their major to new one. But they stay in school, and keep going. Then come the students who don't believe college is cut out for them. The grades show that this isn’t the place for them. So, maybe they should just leave and try something else. These students feel doubt in what they wanted to do in life, and wonder what they should really be doing.

This then brings into question, is society putting too much pressure on college students? We make them go a whole week with little to no sleep. Some have anxiety because they're so concerned about passing that one class, or getting that degree. Has society put too much pressure into students achieving their dream? Because that's what college is for right? Helping students prepare for that dream job they've always wanted. That emerald city at the end of the yellow brick road. Or is society saying that college isn’t for the dreamers. It’s time to grow and realize that you're just another cog in the machine.

We've lost perspective on what college is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a place that helps people achieve that dream job. A place that trains them to be great at what they love. Now it’s just a place that you've got to survive. Just get the degree worry about everything else later. Even if that degree is over something you hate. Students want to do something they love, not something they hate. They should be trying to get that degree over something they want to do. That’s why we went to college in the first place.

If somebody wants to be an architect, help them improve, and get that job. Don’t make that student wallow in self-pity, and start to second guess themselves over something they love. If that kid wants to be an artist, let them be an artist. Don't tell them that their degree is useless. It’s over something they love. It’s over their dream.

College should be encouraging the thoughts of dreamers. Not having students be terrified of that one week during the semester. Not being a place that makes them reconsider what they want to be, and do in life. We say college is the one place you can be whatever you want to be. But are we really being honest with ourselves? Or are we just trying to fool ourselves into thinking that way. Finals week is an emotional roller coaster. We can all agree on that. But does it have to be or has society made it that way? Has society made college into something it’s not? If so what happened? How did we get here? Where did it all go wrong? It’s time for college to be that place for the dreamer. It’s time that we make college that place for the dreamer.

Signing off as: The college student trying to survive.