By Lauren Zazzara
Staff Writer
Fifteen weeks of classes. Forty-two Monday-Wednesday-Fridays, 28 Tuesday-Thursdays. Seventy days of classes. Countless hours slaving over essays, projects and cramming for tests. They all boil down to one thing: Finals Week.
Just the word “final” can send a college student into a fit of panic and dread. But students must remember that a final is just an exam. Doing well or doing poorly will not affect the rest of your lives. Don’t forget, there are more grades than just the final that go into your average. That being said, students must still take exams seriously in order to do their best.
One tip is to try and find a place that you can focus best. For many students, that place is the library. However, many other places on campus are open to students this, especially because the library tends to get crowded. These spaces include: Café LaVerna, the Loft, the practice rooms in the Quick Center, the University Chapel, the Damietta Center and various classrooms. Find a place that feels comfortable, calming and doesn’t offer many distractions.
Before beginning to study, it is helpful to get an idea of what topics to focus on. Dr. Imhoff, French professor and interim dean of Clare College said knowing what to study is the first step toward success.
“[Students] can find out from their professor what’s on the final,” Imhoff said. “If the final is comprehensive I always tell the students to review all their exams they took this semester. They’ve already been tested on some of the knowledge so the exams can help them.”
Students may find they don’t know how to study.
“[Students] need to study in groups. It is always good to study with other students because everybody takes different kinds of notes and different kinds of knowledge,” Imhoff said.
Groups can be very effective, as it helps to solidify ideas or facts in one’s head if he or she discusses them out loud. But students must be careful to not allow themselves to get distracted by straying off-topic, which can be easy to do when studying with friends.
Make sure that you make sleep a priority. Set a time that you will make yourself quit studying each night so that you can ensure 6-8 hours of rest.
“I don’t believe in all-nighters, but some students do. If you don’t have enough sleep and you come to a final tired, I don’t know what you can produce if you have an essay to write,” Imhoff said.
“You need to get plenty of rest and schedule your time to study for your final and take a break once in a while,” Imhoff said.
Student Andrew Church also gave some advice to make finals less stressful.
“I’m going to remain calm and tell myself that the exams will be easy so that I don’t get too stressed out,” Church, a sophomore physics major, said.
Balance and organization of notes is important during finals week, according to Church.
“I have to focus and get as much work done as possible so that I can prep for all my exams,” Church said.
Be sure you are still getting rest and exercise and are eating well, because these factors are just as important as the swarm of facts swirling through your head before an exam.
