As a Bradley student, I’m sure you’re familiar with our “Study Day.” For those that may not attend Bradley, or are unaware of what this means: Bradley gives students and professors the Wednesday before finals the day off to prepare for all of the upcoming final exams. It truly is a really helpful day to get yourself in the mindset, and prepare yourself, for finals since they can be a really overwhelming and stressful time. However, if you don’t utilize it, you could end up behind before you realize. There are a few things around Bradley that happen yearly that I think are worth the time to do to make the most of your Study Day.
Go to the Library
Even if you don’t stay there to study, throughout finals they have goodies for students. From my experience, they usually have snack packs of “brain food” to help you get through the long days of studying to make sure that you’re still taking care of yourself and eating as needed. On Study Day they also have little stress toys that can be fun to use during finals, and it can help keep your mind from wandering off studying if that’s something you struggle with. It’s also the most underrated busy spot on campus all day. Most people are going to assume that the library is too busy to find a spot and get things done but everyone fails to remember there are three floors where students can stay to work. It also helps that everyone is thinking the same way, so you truly have great odds of getting a spot to hole up to study. Don’t overlook it just because you think it’s obvious.Â
Pack a Lunch or Snacks
Everyone always tricks themselves into thinking that they’ll find a good spot to stop studying to then go get food. If you’re not one of those people, then you might be the kind that sets aside time to get food and then you’ll get back to it after you eat. More times than not, though, you don’t find the same rhythm and it can be hard to get back into the mindset of studying once you’ve left that space. By packing a lunch, or just grabbing a few snacks, you can be completely ready to keep studying for as long as you want. It can also be nice to be prepared in case you start to get hungry in the middle of studying and you don’t want to have to get distracted by that. Also, most places on campus that you would study allow you to have food as long as you’re mindful of the mess, so take advantage of that!Â
Take Breaks
I know that the two other reasons may make it seem like I truly believe you should sit down for 12 hours and study nonstop, but I really do believe in taking breaks as needed. It can be discouraging to sit silently to study for hours, so make sure to consider that when you’re taking care of yourself and your needs throughout the day. Even if you just get up and walk around the area that you’re in, the change of scenery can help to keep you motivated and sane during the day. It’s also okay to talk to your friends for a bit to catch up and give your mind some rest during the process. The most important thing during Study Day is making sure that you don’t burn yourself out on the first day!Â
Start Early!
As horrible as it is to get up and start working the one day during finals you can sleep in, it truly is a game changer to wake up early and get started. It can also help you to get done with everything earlier, so you can keep your sleep schedule from getting messed up at the beginning of finals since that can be a hard habit to break! By getting started earlier, you get the first pick of all the free finals goodies around campus, as well as ensuring that you’re actually going to do it. The worst thing to do is wait and push it off because it can then be hard to finally start, which is okay and normal. Try to beat that before it happens by starting early and getting done sooner in the night.
Enjoy the Silly Little Things
Bradley makes a point every year to have fun, dumb things on campus to make Study Day enjoyable for everyone. There are fidget and stress toys everywhere, ACBU typically hosts an event or two, there are just silly things everywhere. Don’t be embarrassed about enjoying them. My roommate somehow found a balloon hat person that made her a minion that she then wore for a few hours. Plenty of organizations are going around with snacks and things throughout the day, and there are usually one or two spots around campus that have fun things for you to take. There is also a ton of free stuff around campus all day! There was a snow cone truck and free snacks on the quad this semester, so make sure to venture out and see everything that you can. Along with studying, Study Day is also meant to help with relaxing prior to the most stressful time of the semester, so enjoy it!Â