Ready for summer already? As we Hilltoppers make our final treks up the hill, we face the end of yet another long academic year. The spring was filled with snowstorms, all-nighters, and an increase in the squirrel population, and the coming summer will be a long-needed break for the Hilltopper Nation. But to get to summer, we have to survive finals week.
1. Free "Breakfast?"
Start your last Monday on campus right with free breakfast. That's right, I said free. Fresh will be having a Finals Week Complimentary Breakfast on Monday from 7 - 9:30 a.m. in DSU. But since most of us won't be awake any day this week before 11, and since Fresh, well, sucks, your best bet for a happy Monday is to get some sleep. Good try, Fresh. Good try.
2. Remember, home cooked food is just on the horizon.
If your momma is as Southern as mine is, you get to start looking forward to fresh vegetables, chicken from an actual damn chicken and, well, pretty much anything that's NOT campus food.
3. Coffee. Coffee. And More Coffee.
Starbucks, Einstein's and Java City exist for a reason. I don't care if you don't drink coffee, it's time to stop being selfish and pour yourself a Venti
4. Library, Baby.
Helm-Cravens Library is open until 2 a.m.
All. Week. Long.
Hit the books, Hilly!
5. Get Lucky with the "Walking Woman."
Everyone knows that statue in Centennial Mall: the bronze woman who's too thin and needs a hairbrush. We thought we lost her earlier in the Spring when she mysteriously disappeared for several months, but she finally returned to us good as new! If WKU was Hogwarts, the Walking Woman is the Fat Lady portrait in Gryffindor Tower. Rumor has it, if you rub the Walking Woman's hair, it'll bring you good luck on your exams. But that's just a rumor.
6. Don't Neglect Your Love Life.
It's time for a stroll over the Kissing Bridge.
Don't let that special someone in your life go by the wayside just because your life is going up in flames. Be productive together! Study together, work out together and keep each other motivated. If your partner doesn't motivate you, then dump them and find someone new quick!
7. Color the Stress Away.
Monday through Wednesday, there will be coloring books and chalk set up in Centennial Mall and the Colonnade during the mornings and afternoons. Don't forget your creativity and your red and white crayons!
8. Music!
Keep the stress down and the music up. A study in 2013 by the U.S. National Library of Medicine discovered that listening to music causes cortisol (a stress-inducing steroid hormone) levels to decrease, meaning: more music equals less stress. The study also showed fast music keeps the brain alert and concentrated. Here are my Top Seven favorite study songs:
"Rock Bottom" - Hailee Steinfeld
"The Wire" - HAIM
" Animals" - Ivy & Gold
"No Way No" - MAGIC!
"Hurricane (Arty Remix)" - Halsey
"Take the World by Storm" - Lucas Graham
"Addicted to You" - Avicii
9. Go Outside.
Summer is upon us, and although the weather is in need of some strong bipolar medication, the days are starting to get warm and sunny. Since we seriously have the most beautiful campus in the state of Kentucky, take a study break, grab a hammock and a friend and spend some time in the great outdoors. Or, at least, that patch of grass outside your dorm.
10. Break Time.
Studying is great and all but don't work yourself to death. Watch a movie, hang out with friends, go for a walk, attend a campus event, take a nap or whatever else you enjoy doing.
11. Appreciate Your Second Home.
It may be a stressful week, but don't forget you're leaving the place you call your second home for the entire summer. Yes, the train's loud, the food's not award-winning culinary material, the Hill's steep and the prices at P.O.D. could make a nun say, "Hell no, I'm not paying for that!" But you can't deny there's something pretty magical about this place, something we're all going to miss terribly in June and July.
12. The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Campus.
We're going to miss the sound of the bells from Guthrie floating into our dorm rooms every evening. We'll miss the convenience of having a coffee shop, library, gym and food court within walking distance of my bedroom. We'll miss texting our friends, "lobby in 5," because we all live in the same building.
We'll miss those frat guys who walk around the Mall at all hours of the night, hollering like wolves and swinging around their canes like big, Greek elves. Most of all, we'll miss waking up every day on the Hill, because, after all, we are Hilltoppers for life.
