With finals week just beginning, it seems like almost everyone is running around with their heads cut off. The library is packed with no extra seats starting at noon. The tutoring lab has never had this much traffic. The library printers are breaking left and right because of the amount of papers due. You hear the word “finals” whispered behind you, following you wherever you go on campus. There could be a horror movie called "Finals: The Week of Doom." But I’m telling you now: don’t buy into this bull crap frenzy that is finals week. I’m not stressed about finals, and you shouldn’t be either.
Think of finals week logically. You know how many courses you’re taking this semester. You know you have, at max, six or so finals to take. You also know what you have made in these courses for the past four months. Finals are not worth the entire class -- 30 percent maybe, but never more than that unless you have a deranged professor, in which case I am sorry. Think about it guys: that exam, that presentation, that paper, is not your life. You’ve had all semester to make good grades, and chances are, you’ve had a few fridge-worthy tests and papers.
If you’re still stressed out, all you have to do is calculate the grade that you need to make on the final. By this point, you should have all of your grades in beside the final. Just do basic math to figure out what you need to make in order to get the grade you want. Then make that grade. So many people I know get so stressed out just because of not knowing.
Instead of utilizing time, I see people pulling all-nighters instead of coming in early to the library. People are on Facebook more than usual, procrastinating by studying for finals by posting about how hellish finals week is. I don’t get it. And look, I’ve been through this too. During freshman year, I pulled all-nighters for all of my exams because I was so nervous. But I realized that all I had to do was create a study guide, study my study guide, and ace the test. Figure out how you study best -- during the morning or at night? Where do you study well? A classroom? The library? Your bed?
Midterms are seriously harder than finals. During midterms, you still have to juggle classes with insanely hard exams. During finals, your sole purpose is to pass this test. You have no classes taking up your day. You can spread out your studying. The most you have in one day is two finals, and guess what? If you have three exams within 24 hours of each other, you are allowed to move one! Why are you so stressed out?
Seriously guys, stop freaking everyone else out. You can do this! You’re making freshmen that have never taken exams scared shitless. Take a deep breath, get a good night’s sleep, and hunker down. Think positive thoughts and stay focused. You control the test, the test does not control you.
