We have entered the beginning of finals week.
I repeat: we have entered the beginning of finals week.
But before we can all enjoy those post finals margaritas (or any alcohol beverage, let’s be real), we just have to finish this one week. THIS. ONE. WEEK.
Push through! You can do anything for a week. And although this week may feel like it will last forever and that it is the defining moment of your college career, that is where you are wrong. This finals week, I encourage you to focus on remembering that this is just another challenge. Another way to show yourself how strong, how brave, and how smart you are.
There’s a lot of truth in the phrase, “All you can doĀ is your best.” And while most college students can agree that your best is definitely not what you give everyday, those same students can agree that finals week of every semester is a great way to put that best to a challenge. There is so much to study, and so many things to do during finals week every semester, that it is easily the most dreaded time of the year for college students. But what most college students don’t realize (and luckily for you, I’m letting you in on this little secret), is that there IS a way to come out of finals week without feeling overly defeated and feeling terrible about yourself. The key is to not lose sight of the big picture.
Yes, these tests are important. I won’t lie to you and try to convince you that in the long run, these finals tests are not a true indication of your intelligence (which is also true) or of your future success in the work-world of your choice. They are important, because at the end of the day, grades are important. Especially if you want to get into grad school. But that’s not the point.
The point is that you have learned this information all semester. You have studied, in chunks, the entirety of this material throughout the semester (usually, if it’s a cumulative final — of course there are exceptions….) and you are more than capable of making it through this week successfully and brilliantly. It will be hard, and it will be a lot of work, but it is a possible task. One that you are, of course, up to, because let’s face it: you’re a girlboss.
We can give you all the study tips in the world, we can tell you to manage your time wisely and to be proactive, but what we can’t tell you enough is how smart you are. How intelligent you are. How much worth you have, both with successful finals and not-so-successful finals. And you can do this. It’s only one week.
PS — all of us at HCUAB are here for you and are so proud of you! Keep going!