It’s now the end of the semester and once again, finals week is upon us. The stress of exams and projects looms above the entire campus as students try to finish up everything they need to before the last day of school. It’s hard not to get distracted during finals week, especially with all of the fun and exciting things going on all throughout the city, but we are here to help you say no to temptation and ace your exams one last time before summer rolls around.
Deactivating Facebook (and Twitter, and Pinterest and Stumbleupon..)
First and foremost, it’s really important to deactivate yourself from cyberspace. We all know that the first thing every college student does when they sit down and get on their computer is log into Facebook, Twitter, or any other one of the hundreds of other social networking sites. Here is where willpower becomes your best friend; just say no.
These sites are great because you can deactivate your account for a while so logging in isn’t as simple as it would be if you were activated. Logging in to these sites can almost be second nature, so when you make it more difficult on yourself, it will be easier to feel guilty for trying to waste precious study time and actually sit down to start studying.
No Friends & Quiet Zones
Distractions are probably your worst enemy during finals time, and aside from technological distractions it’s also important to separate yourself from your friends when it’s time to get studying. Find a quite, or loud (if that’s your preference), place where you can sit down and zone into your work. Find a place away from your regular world, whether it be in the Cesar Chavez Student Center, one of the Humanities study rooms, a corner of the new library, or a spot on the grass in the quad, so that you can escape your usual routine and make time for yourself to get work done.
Eating Right & Sleeping
It’s also important to keep yourself well fed and energized while cramming at this
time of the year. Make sure you are eating regular meals and getting enough sleep so that when you sit down to study you can focus on just that: studying. We all know how embarrassing, and even uncomfortable, it is to be sitting in a quiet space and your stomach won’t stop grumbling or your eyes won’t stay open. Keep your body healthy so that studying can be the only thing on your mind.
Finals can be the most painful time of the entire semester, but as long as you prepare yourself accordingly, you should be able to slide right through without any troubles.