On December 16, the last finals will be submitted, Weird Friday will commence, and many of my friends will pack their suitcases two hours prior to boarding a plane set for the West Coast. Â At the beginning of December, no one has time to worry about laundry or to choose which textbooks they may sell back to the bookstore. As a result, these trivial decisions are made in a fleeting moment, benched in favor of procrastinated essays and crammed-for exams. If youâre a perfectionist like me, however, you probably have been thinking about Christmas (or Hanukkah) and packing and cleaning since the moment you stepped back on campus after Thanksgiving Break. When you begin to take into account all the decisions you have to makeâeven the mindless onesâearly on, you can avoid last-minute panic altogether.
In all things, I prefer to prepare for every possible outcome: good, iffy, and bad. For break prep, in particular, I follow a very methodical, formulaic approach.
First, like many other college students, I formulate a game plan for my classes. Itâs best to know when your finals are well in advance so that you can make special arrangements, if necessary. Students who need a little extra time on their exams should contact the Student Accessibility and Support Services office located in Olin Library. SASS can also help you rearrange your schedule if you have more than two finals scheduled in one day! Unfortunately, the office cannot accommodate your needs last minute, so be sure to know your finals schedule in advance!
Google Calendars, paper planners, and whiteboard calendars are all great resources to utilize during stressful times. Before smaller breaks, such as October Break and Thanksgiving Break, I write in my academic schedule for the first few weeks after we return. I assign a colored marker to each class and use shorthand to save room. For example, in my microeconomics class, I had my third exam scheduled for December 5, so I wrote âE3â in blue on that date. You can also write in your other commitments. Since I only write a Her Campus article every other week, I like to remind myself what weeks I will need to submit something to my editors. Considering that we do not have our syllabi for next semester yet, preparing your calendar will not work for winter break, but itâs a good tip to keep in mind for Spring Break in March!
Once you have your class schedule planned, you can plan the rest of your life around it. This is where the menial tasks come into play: cleaning, packing, and tying up loose ends. If youâre lucky, you might finish your finals on Wednesday and have an extra two or three stress-free days to prepare to leave. If youâre like me and have an evening exam on Thursday, then you might have less time. (Last year I had an essay due at 4:30 on Friday, so I bet you can guess what I was doing until 4:30 that day.) Ideally, I like to set aside an entire day to vacuum, dust, and wash my laundry, but I also recognize that I cannot guarantee myself hours of uninterrupted time.
Bryn Rediger â19 recommended incorporating packing into your final exam schedule: âI like to pack in between paragraphs when Iâm writing my papers.â Her strategy works well if you have essays due or exams scheduled on Friday afternoon. Even if you donât have late finals, you may want to consider packing early anyway. Students tend to wait until the last minute to wash their laundry; thus, if you wait until Friday night to wash a load (or more), you may not have a washer and/or dryer to use. I always have at least four loads of laundry when I decide to wash my clothes, bed comforter, and towels, so I try to get my laundry done before Thursday night, if possible. Pro tip: you can also get away with doing laundry early on Saturday morning. A lot of people party on Weird Friday. They will be too hungover to wake up before 8 AM.
Brynâs logic can also be applied to little errands like selling back books. Your brain can only focus on studying Microeconomics or Psychology for so long. Why not take a walk to the bookstore to return some of the books you no longer need? Your legs and your wallet will thank you. The more you sell back to the bookstore, the less clutter you will ultimately have in your room. Sometimes you wonât get as much as you paid for the books originally, but, hey, that book may make you twenty-five cents richer than before. According to the Kenyon Textbooks webpage, âPrices paid vary considerably, based on condition, current edition and, most importantly, on whether the Kenyon faculty member has informed the bookstore that the same book/edition will be used on campus in a coming semester.â The bookstore will also refuse to buy back the book if thereâs considerable water damage.
Looking for other forms of productive procrastination? Stop by the Career Development Office to talk about your resume, summer internships, and post-Kenyon job opportunities! You can also make an appointment with fellow HCK writer, Dean Ngai, to talk about your academic future. Her office is located upstairs in Edwards House. You can also ask the nice ladies downstairs to send an Official transcript home just in case you would like to apply for scholarships and other opportunities over break. Anu Muppirala â19, proclaimed neuroscience major, likes to organize her computer and create new folders for next semesterâs classes when she doesnât want to work on her English assignments. If youâre a Community Advisor like me, you could put together an elaborate bulletin board.
As you can see, there are many ways to procrastinate but still get things done. Of course, finals week should NOT be all work and no play. In fact, I highly encourage you to take time to relax. After all, thereâs no way you will be able to do your best on your finals if you donât take care of yourself. Watch the new episodes of Reign or The Vampire Diaries on Netflix. Dance all your stress away with your friends listening to peppy hits like âHappyâ by Pharell Williams. Take as many Buzzfeed quizzes as you can. Attend lectures. Drink tea. Eat pie.
Amidst finals stress, you need to find ways to keep your eyes on the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel. As break comes closer, I tend to Skype my little sister more. We exchange pleasantries and talk about our respective lives, but sooner or later I ask to speak with my dogs, whom I had called to see in the first place. I also wake up every morning excited to update the âCountdown to Breakâ hanging on my dorm room door.
Whatever you decide to do to keep your morale up before the break, be extra sure to take care of yourself. Take showers regularly. Try to eat three meals a day. Try to sleep at least seven hours every night. December 16 will arrive eventually, but how you choose to spend the time until then is up to you. Whether you spend it relaxing at first and stressing later, or vice versa, the cards are in your hands, even if you should actually be holding a vacuum. Stay strong, Kenyon friends. Weâre almost there.
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Image credits: Charlotte Smithson