The year is coming to a close, the weather is nice, and finals week is finally upon us—it’s one of my favorite times of year. I know, I know, that might sound crazy, but there are several reasons why finals week isn’t all bad. In fact, some parts of it are pretty great.
1. The Weather is Beautiful
Ohio doesn’t have terrible weather all of the time, but unfortunately for us, as students we tend to get the worst of it. It’s cold most of the time we’re here, and unless you stay on campus for the summer, we don’t get to appreciate an Ohio summer at Kenyon. Besides the first few weeks of school, finals week is one of the few times we really can appreciate the warm weather. So take your books or computer outside and spend some time enjoying it!
2. No More Classes
Yeah, finals week can be stressful as you prepare for all of your impending exams and writing final papers, but at least you don’t have class on top of it! You have so much more free time during finals week since you don’t have twelve or more hours of class or any of the reading or small assignments that go with it. The freedom allows you to really budget your time how you want to, which is nice after our highly scheduled semesters.
3. The End Is In Sight
If you can survive this week—which I’m sure you will—you’ll have made it through another semester of college! I love how close finals week is to being done with school for the year, and as an obsessive planner, I love being able to look in my planner and see that I have just four more things to get through, be it papers or exams, before I’m officially done. Sure it may seem like a lot, but it’s better than flipping through at the midway point of the semester and seeing the piles of reading and papers that you still have to get through before you’re done!
4. Three Words: Free Bookstore Coffee
The free bookstore coffee during my first finals week freshman year was how I started drinking coffee, and I look forward to it at the end of every semester. Now, I’m no coffee expert, but in my opinion, the bookstore coffee is really good, especially since I can put vanilla flavoring in it—also free! (Yeah, I told you I’m no coffee connoisseur.) Plus, it’s just a nice change from Peirce coffee. The bookstore also has ice cream happy hour from 10-11pm every night of finals week, where you can get ice cream for $1—the perfect treat after a hard day of studying!
5. That Great Feeling When You’re Finally Done
Once you’ve finally turned in that last paper and taken that last exam, you can finally relax, and that is one of the best feelings. When this week is over, you’ll have made it through another year of college! It feels crazy, right? Nothing beats that amazing sense of accomplishment once you’ve finally finished.
Finals week can be tough, but there are definitely parts to enjoy! So keep strong Kenyon—we’re almost done!