I may not have completed my first set of finals but boy, am I already feeling the stress of the end of the semester. Once Thanksgiving Break is over, the end of the semester speeds up and flies by. It's an endless flow of papers and presentations and projects that you can never seem to get on top of, so you usually end up doing things the night before, which is never really the best idea. We become completely new people under the stress and despite our childhood selves saying we would never become Squidward, it inevitably happens during finals time.
1. Finding creative ways get through your presentations.
Anyone who has a presentation for their final and hates speaking in front of crowds have probably heard of this technique at least once or twice. Just like Squidward was told, imagine the crowd in their underwear and while the presentation won't be 100 times better, it may be a little easier to do. Because come on; if you imagine people in their underwear, you saying 'um' every third word won't be as bad.
2. Finding different ways to torture yourself instead of stu(dying).
Studying for finals really just sucks and you don't ever want to do it but you know you have to. You'll go through the stage of procrastination or you know, maybe even torture before you actually sit down to do what you need to do. You'll be open and willing to let random people in the library give you a concussion, not only to torture yourself but also to allow a release for everyone else studying too.
3. Finding out you have a final in the class at the end of the semester.
We all have that one professor that always says TBA for the final on their syllabus. It leaves you wondering and hoping all semester that you won't have the final. And when your professor inevitably schedules the final, you lose all happiness and hope of you going home one day earlier. Everything in your soul dies because it is just another thing to study or prepare for.
4. Wanting to sleep your way through everything.
All that studying really tires you out. You've looked over those 5 flashcards and you've started a paper outline so you deserve a break. A 45-minute nap will suffice but better make it an hour and a half just so you're ready to go after the nap. Once you wake up you'll do another five flashcards and more of the outline before ultimately getting sidetracked until it's time for bed, and you deserve to go to bed early because you studied so hard during the day.
5. Debating on whether or not your dream job is worth the stress.
While finals are not the "end all be all" of the class, it sure doesn't feel like that the week before. It's just so much easier to give up and take the loss on everything that you have to do. It's not worth crying at 2am trying to learn about the powerhouse of the cell or how to conjugate those verbs in Spanish. It's just so much easier to let your hopes of passing all your classes with a B die.
6. Finishing that 10-page research paper that takes place of the final.
Not all classes have a final exam, so the professor decides they want to assign a long paper instead. The paper is usually longer than 6 pages just so it takes a long time and you have to do a little extra research in order to truly perfect the paper. It feels great when you finally finish at 3 a.m. the morning the paper is due and you know that it is some of your best work because we all know students work best when they're working under pressure.
7. Despite your thoughts, working hard to have future success.
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While all of these thoughts do go through your head the one big thing looming over is the thought of how these finals will affect your future. No, the one bad grade that you got second semester freshman year won't matter, but it's not like you realize it at the time. Inevitably, finals will happen and you will get through them and your future will remain intact.
For now, though, study hard, study often, and good luck.
