Edited by: Vlada Taits
It’s that dreaded time of year when finals and assignments pile up and to-do lists seem like they never end. It seems like the end is so near, yet so far away, and that there’s no way that you could possibly review a million slides within a couple of weeks. What makes it even more stressful is that your morale is probably at its lowest, or at least considerably lower than it was at the start of the semester. Unfortunately, the period when you’re most likely to be burnt out coincides precisely with due dates for the assignments that matter the most.
Finals period does not have to be pure drudgery, though. Although you may be overwhelmed and feel drained of all your energy, you’re a lot stronger than you imagined. Taking necessary breaks and making sure to support your mental health, you can muster up the courage and the willpower to own this finals season and slay your assignments.
- Acknowledging your efforts thus far
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One of the most frustrating aspects of finals season is that often, it seems that you’ve been working so hard for the past weeks and months – attending classes, reading your readings, doing weekly quizzes – but there’s still such a large chunk of your grade left to be graded. This is a real struggle of university life, where your performance in courses really only depends on a handful of tests and assignments. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that even though it may seem that your work throughout the semester has gone unnoticed, it will discreetly but unquestionably find its way into your final assessments and serve you well. You have every reason to take pride in the work you put into your courses, graded or otherwise.
- Any day can be a fresh start
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Who said goal-setting is only for New Year’s? While it may sound counter-intuitive and perhaps implausible, having a fresh start near the end of the semester is not only possible but a really good idea. Even if you’ve developed a habit of procrastinating late into the night or dozing off in lecture videos, it’s never too late to set goals for yourself and make the necessary adjustments. This late into the semester, it’s particularly easy to have fallen into a rut or a downward spiral of negative thinking. Getting out of a rut is no easy task, but slowly phasing out of one is certainly not beyond reach, especially with the support of friends and family. Instead of doing things the same old way, or thinking the same negative thoughts, why not spice things up by introducing some novelty into your daily routine? For example, try changing up your workspace, testing out a new mindfulness app, or trying a different note-taking system!
All in all, finals season is undoubtedly a stressful time of year, but also an opportunity to find new sources of motivation and to exercise positive thinking under demanding circumstances. We each have the strength within us to finish off this semester strong.