Fearing Finals

            When I hear the phrase “reading week” I know what’s lurking right around the corner: finals. Finals are the end to either a quarter or a semester system. Usually, finals count for more of the total grade than a normal exam. However, this often depends on the course and the instructor. Finals are a student’s last chance in order to get the last few percent points, or to get up to the next letter grade. Finally, finals come in various forms such as: projects, papers, or exams.

            With the pressure of finals crushing down on students around the nation in the coming months, it’s important to explore tips and tricks in order to be prepared. When having projects and reports, it’s usually outside of the classroom which has the chance to be procrastinated on. Procrastination can lead to this report or project being put off until the week before finals. It’s important to start working on the final project as soon as the information and resources are available. In this fashion, there won’t be an extra project when it comes to time to crunch time for exams.

            Projects and reports also have the ability to be broken down into different pieces. For example, if a project has a report and physical component then in order to complete this efficiently it can be broken down into two parts. First focusing on the report to gather the information and then later on taking the key points in order to create a visual to finish the rest of the project. Similar to a project, a report has multiple parts to all come together to become a paper. Taking these pieces apart and writing them at different times can help relieve the pressure and stress to complete the paper all at once.

            Getting past the projects and reports, there are still exams left during finals week. Exams for various courses can either be cumulative or structured like a past exam. Either exam requires a decent amount of study time in order to get the desired grade to put a positive end to the semester. I’ve seen the library here on campus crowded with students that have never been before in the semester, because this is how important finals are to them. This is the time where everyone begins to cram and go the library for the extended hours in the hope for catching up on the various topics they may have missed out on.

            In order to prevent this cram session, it can be helpful to study a bit beforehand or throughout the semester. Learning the topics can make it easier to study, rather than to learn the topics while you’re studying, it’ll just be a refresher of the topics covered throughout the semester. Additionally, studying alone or with friends can both benefit a student. Depending on what works for the individual working with friends, or having a study group can help get the information around quicker and stick longer for the final. Finally, working alone can help if the student needs alone time and study time just working on note cards or quizlet.com.

            Finals are a student’s worse fear and many are rushing to get out for break, but it doesn’t always have to be a scary time. In order to prevent the stress, planning ahead can help break down projects and reports. Also, finding a study group or finding a study tactic that works can make studying that much easier during reading week. Take a deep breath and finals will be over before you know it.