Let’s get it started

“Let’s get it started, in here,” as said by The Black Eyed Peas, and me. And by it, I mean finals. It’s that time of the year; the end of the spring semester. With the Last Day of Classes come and gone, today marks the first reading day for finals.

I write this from an empty classroom in Blair left unlocked for students like me who need a place to study but can’t manage the crowds at Swem. Having one library has never been a problem, but when finals come around, it can be a lot to handle. Not only are students stressed about their impending exams, but they somehow find a way to make sitting at the library stressful as well. And that’s where Student Affairs comes in. They get it. They know that W&M students can sometimes forget that there are more important things in life than tests. To remedy our addictions to caffeine and adrenaline fueled studying, they make a schedule of unlocked classroom spaces across campus to get away for awhile and study in our own way. More than that, Student Affairs provides “De-Stress” events including free food and therapy dogs.

This isn’t my first finals rodeo. It’s my fourth finals period and yet I still get lost, confused, and even wish I was at a real rodeo rather than worrying about how I’m going to write two papers and take four exams all in two weeks. It helps, though, to know that I’m not alone. There are more than 6,000 other students that feel the exact same way. I study with friends and by myself. I study in classrooms, in coffee shops, and in the public library. And somehow, it all gets done.

I’m not saying all of this on behalf of Student Affairs. I’m not being paid to tell you that W&M understands its students during what is probably our most difficult time (which I think it does). I’m not telling you that I’ve got it all figured out. I don’t. Because finals aren’t easy. Getting up every morning with motivation to study and do well after a long and tough semester isn’t a cake walk. So every time you get up, you eat, you study, you exercise, you laugh, you cry, you sleep, and repeat, that’s just another time that you accomplished something.

Yeah, it would be nice if someone stamped an A on our transcripts every time we got breakfast or took a 4 hour nap, but you don’t need anyone else’s validation except your own. You’ve got this! And don’t worry, I know it’ll all be okay. How will my finals go? Fingers crossed. But for now, “the bass keeps runnin’ runnin,’ and runnin’ runnin.” And yup, we’re all the bass.