Finals week is soon to be upon us. We have all been there before and in case you have not, get ready to do some work. A cliche piece of advice would be to relax and do not get stressed out. The truth is that this is most likely the most important week of your academic semster. So I am going to take the opposite route and tell you to get stressed and not relax. Organize, starting now, to do well on your exams and papers. A little stress can go a long way. Also, a little stress can be the motivation you need to do that outline or get that paper done. I know too much stress will lead to a breakdown, so you should find a middle route. Stress yourself just enough to get things done. Stress happens to be a very good motivator. If you are getting things done in a timely fashion then you will stress less when it comes to the actual week of finals.
A good decision to first ready yourself for finals is to see what the final for the class actually is. If you did not check yet, go to your syallabus and find out what your final is. It could be an exam or essay, or it would be cummulative or just on recent subjects. Also find out when your exam is. It is best to check the academic schedule that the university posts. The time is usually on the syllabus, but the syllabus is made before the semester begins so it is subject to change. It could possibly be in a different room than the class’s normally. Remember if you have three finals on the same day you can have them moved. That is always a helpful tidbit of advice to know. The more you organize and prepare the better you will feel about the upcoming finals. So stress enough to get yourself started and then you will do fine come finals week.
Good luck on finals week!
~Jack Barnett
Op-Ed Editor