How to Survive Finals Week

Finals are here, and so is the end of your life.

Of course I'm only half kidding. Your social life is on hold, sure, but it's certainly not the end of your life. At least I sure hope not.

So, have you been studying? Have you been keeping up with that final paper? Of course not! Why would you? Why make things easy for yourself when you can procrastinate the hell out of those finals and do anything else instead? Am I right? Or am I right?

Because I'm 110% with you on this (I have yet to pick up a pen, notebook or book at all related to any of my classes this semester), I thought maybe I'd try and help you out a bit. Two noggins are better than one, no?

I don't have all the answers to your problems, nor do I have all the answers to those multiple choice questions on your biology final, nor can you have an antennae under your hat with a guy giving you all the answers through a walkie talkie (Spongebob anyone?). But I can give you some advice. You may find it all entirely useless and stupid, but hey, I'm trying here, okay?

There are three important steps when it comes to finals and finals' week. These are:

1. PREPARATION.
2. STUDYING.
3. CELEBRATION.

Now that you're aware of the three major stages of finals (there will be a final on all of this material at the end of this blog post), let's explore these steps in much further depth. Because, yes, there's more to everything than meets the eye. 

So now it's time to crack down on that final paper; and time to crack down on studying for that final exam you've been dreading.

Whether you're 3 pages in, or you've spent all that time doing this (look to your left), I'll give you some help. Follow these guidelines and you'll at least be a little better off than you were before. We can only hope.

First, you gotta prepare for the grueling study-time (STEP 1: PREPARATION). Here are some (obvious) ideas to help get you prepared:

- Put all irrelevant electronics away. This mainly means your phone... You shouldn't be texting while you should be studying or writing that damn paper. If you absolutely need a computer, fine, but you should only have PowerPoint or Word or whatever else you absolutely NEED open on said computer. If you think the internet (Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, whatever else) will be a terrible distraction, try going about your paper or whatever it is you're doing on the computer the old-fashioned way. Break out the pen and paper and get to writing. Calculators may be necessary, but make sure you're not fooling around on it and instead doing what you should be doing on it.

- Find a quiet place. Whether some small nook or cranny in your house or nearby library, make sure there's no noise distractions. Maybe you're one to put in some earphones and listen to some music-- make sure it's not distracting; instrumental music might be best for some. But aside from that, make sure there's little to no noise pollution surrounding you. -- I am hesitant to put "comfy" in with this tip... Because if you find a quiet and comfy place, you could get too comfortable and fall asleep. Which is obviously something that needs to be avoided in the case of studying for finals. But then again, if you're going to be there for a while, you don't want to be sitting on a Goddamn rock. So find something or somewhere moderately comfortable.

- CAFFEINE. Drink it. Pump it into your veins. However you may consume it, it is sometimes very necessary. So before you sit down in your quiet and semi-comfy place without any of your irrelevant electronics, grab a large cup of coffee/tea/soda and you're ready to get down to business!

So now that you're all prepared and settled in for studying - phone away, coffee in hand, sitting in a corner somewhere - your next few steps fall under the category of "actual study time" (STEP 2: STUDYING):

- Read. Books, any notes that you've taken, PowerPoints, anything at all related to your subject matter. For example -- I have an Economics final on Friday (And I'm sitting here writing this instead... Eeeeeeek!). I have my textbook, my notes, and a bunch of PowerPoint slides that my teacher lectured us with. So I'm going to basically just READ READ READ until my eyes bleed and pop out of my head. Extreme? Yes. But necessary? Yes.

- Take notes on your notes. I find that the best way for me to learn is for me to write something over and over again. So I pull out another notebook, sheet of paper, or some index cards, and I copy my notes over. After I've written each thing maybe once or twice, I read it all over again.

- Team up with a classmate or two. This is, of course, if you absolutely have to. You may be like me and completely dread group projects. Because I don't like people. Especially when we have to work together to achieve a certain goal for a certain grade. But! If you think it will help to buddy up, go for it. Maybe you'll get some helpful insight here and there. Hey, it's worth a try. So maybe you shouldn't be so negative (like me) and bash the group project thing, even if they do wind up letting you down, you should go for it anyway.

- Ask your professor. If you really have no idea what you're studying or doing (cough, cough - me and Economics), email your professor and ask if they're doing a study sesh or something similar. Which leads me to...

- If there are study sessions, GO TO THEM. Some teachers are "nice" enough to have a few classes to help you prepare for the final exam or work on your final paper. I highly suggest you go to such classes. They will help you, I promise.

Lastly, your third step: CELEBRATING! Whether or not you think you passed, as long as you gave it your all, it's time to celebrate! Get out there and PARTAYYYYY! You did it! It's over! ... Until next semester and it happens all over again! Hooray! Oh, wait.

But for now, it's not over. UGH. I KNOW. Get to work, ya bum!

Before you do, I think you probably need a little pick me up, so here's Ryan Gosling to wish you good luck (look to your right) ------------>>>>>>

And here's a slightly less attractive person to also wish you good luck.... (look below). 

Happy Finals Week!