The Survivor’s Guide to Finals

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already arrived at the last week of classes. It’s wild that Last Day of Classes (LDOC) is this week, seniors that I’ve known since Convocation are graduating next month, and I’m a little more than a month away from starting my summer internship in DC.

But there’s one more thing that is quickly approaching. One thing I know I’m not particularly wild about – finals.

In light of that scary truth, I thought I’d write up a “Survivor’s Guide to Finals.” For those of you who, like me, are going to be stressing a lot these next two weeks, here are my top six tips:

#1: Plan Ahead and Make a Schedule. Are your finals spaced out? Are they close together? As you’re waking up this Saturday and recovering from the craziness of LDOC, make it a tradition to layout the next week and a half. Mark days that you have finals, days that you need to study, and days when you can relax (extremely important). By knowing your schedule, you can avoid the last-minute panic and the adrenaline-induced-stress-studying, while also making more time to unwind and enjoy the company of your friends before summer break!

#2: Check Your Syllabus and See the Final Exam’s Weight: Does your final exam count for %20 percent of your final grade in that class, or 80%? This is very important for managing your time. If you’ve got two finals the next day and you haven’t studied much for either (which won’t happen if you stick to Tip #1), then it’s definitely better to focus slightly more on the exam worth 80% than the one worth 20%. But if you don’t check ahead of the time, you won’t know!

#3: Drink Lots of Water: I know it’s tempting to go straight for those coffees, but you’ll start to get dehydrated from the excess caffeine (not to mention fidgety, anxious, and easily agitated). Go for water instead; you’ll be able to study better, and your body will thank you! If you don’t want to spend money on water, that’s fine – hit up Wawa for some FREE water!

#4: Maintain a Normal Eating Schedule: During finals week it’s very important not to skip meals, but stress induced binge eating isn’t the best for you either. So integrate regular breaks during breakfast, lunch, and dinner into your study schedule. Better yet, organize with friends and get some food together! Not only will this give you a chance to step away from your studies and de-stress for an hour, but it will allow you to spend some time with friends that you won’t be able to see during break!

#5: Get Sleep: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve all heard it before. If we sleep more, we’ll do better in class. But it’s college, right? Between classes, sports, friends, extracurriculars, and “me” time, who actually gets enough sleep? This may be the case during the rest of the semester, but finals week is a different animal. When you’re struggling to memorize facts and you’re trying to cram a semester’s worth of learning into a few days, remember that studies have shown that sleep deprivation is linked directly to a sharp decrease in recallable short term memory (as well as higher cognitive thinking ability in general). Studying more at the expense of sleep isn’t always a good plan if you forget the material anyways when you’re taking your final. So next week when you’re struggling to remember what was on the back of a flashcard even though you’ve seen it seven times, remind yourself that you’re much better off if you call it a night and get some sleep!

#6: Take a Deep Breath, and Relax: There’s a reason finals are at the end of the semester. And there’s a reason why, if you think about it, they’re your easiest tests – you’ve already been “studying” for them for months. If you think about it, you already know all the material. And yet, I bet most people don’t even realize it.

Before you start to study for your finals – and definitely before you start the finals themselves – do yourself a favor and take a deep breath. Remind yourself that you’ve already gotten this far, and that you’ve already learned everything that’s going to be on the test. Promise yourself that you’ll stick to whatever schedule you’ve got; that you’ll make sure to eat and drink and rest; and most importantly, that you’ll make time for friends and yourself. Remind yourself that there’s no test that’s too intimidating or difficult for you. After all, you did get into William and Mary.

And hey, if that doesn’t work, just think – summer’s right around the corner!

Good luck, Tribe!
Zack Brown