I think we can all agree that finals this semester have hit most everyone harder than normal. The library is packed, the academic buildings are quickly filling up, the lawn is decked out in all it’s Christmas cheer, and our beloved Einstein’s is there for us 24/7.
Finals are no joke, no matter the semester, but this one may be the worst yet. Just like the other fall semesters, it takes time to get into the swing of things. You have to get out of your summer daze on the beach and into a classroom that feels like a holding cell. When you finally get into the swing of things, boom, the semester is practically at a close. You go home for fall break and begin to get into the holiday spirit and then come back just to be sidelined by final exams.
We all have had that moment sitting in class, on the verge of a mental breakdown, where you have to say to yourself, “how is it already time for the final, didn’t we just take the first test?” then the sudden shock sets in. A plethora of questions run through your head: “what day is the exam?” “How many other exams do I have that day?” “What is the worst I can do on this test and still pass?” “What is even going to be on that test?” It all goes down hill from here.
Once you get all your times and dates together you now have to study, but this semester the library is your worse enemy with all the construction going on. There is no happy medium as far as the noise level goes. You are either in the eerily quiet silent room or you are on the main level of the library where the noise echo’s throughout the stairwell and the milkshake machines from Einstein’s are on a constant repeat. You are constantly fighting for table space and the study rooms are ALWAYS taken, even if there is only one person. The other options you have are the freeman study spaces where you constantly hear the foot traffic of students walking back and fourth from east campus or the academic buildings where a majority of the rooms are locked. The study situation is far less than ideal, especially if in the past you have found the perfect place in the back of the library where the noise level is optimal and the foot traffic is minimal.
Aside from the lack of study spaces, the lack of motivation is also present. Christmas movies have begun to air on repeat, your family has decked out the tree at home, the countdown is getting closer, the lawn has officially been lit, and Christmas town is in full swing. The happiest time of the year is here and here we are, pent up in these academic buildings trying to soak in as much 18th century literature, organic chemistry, psychology, and finance as we can (luckily I am only working on the 18th century literature part of that).
Even though Fall finals are the worst, and coming back from Thanksgiving break is the hardest, it’s something we all just have to suck up and finish so we can get to the Spring and even though our library won’t be finished we can study for our finals while basking in the sun on the beach.
I hope you find your ideal study space, ace all your finals and go home to finish the happiest of holiday’s with your friends and family.
