Archives for December 2013

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Finals Week!!

After the fifteen weeks we spend in classes, everything comes to a close during what we call finals week. Once classes are over and the semester ends students have to take final exams. This one week of exams becomes a time where students either buckle down and finish the semester strong or they become a stressed out zombie who walks around with their laptop and an energy drink permanently attached to their hands. Thousands of students flock to the library and the tons of other study spots on campus where they can pull the dreaded “all-nighter” in order to get in all the material from the semester that they haven’t already. Remembering back to my freshman year finals week was horrible so here is a Junior’s guide to surviving Finals Week

1. Start studying early: You do not have to (nor should you) wait until Finals week to start studying. It is highly encouraged to start studying for your finals as early as possible, especially if you have cumulative finals (meaning it covers material from the entire semester).

2. Be Prepared: Know where your finals are, what time they start, and have a plan for how early you want to arrive for different ones. Also prepare yourself for different test environments. You may be taking a final in a computer lab or you could be taking it in a classroom on a scantron with 300 other people in the room. Either way make sure you are prepared and have the necessary tools because getting to your 8 am Math final and realizing you forgot your calculator in your dorm room might put a damper on your day.

3.Get some rest: I definitely understand the stress that finals week can cause and how having four finals may force you to lose some sleep but a week full of all nighters is probably not the best idea. It has been proven that people who are well rested perform better on exams than those who are not. Remembering it is okay to take a break!

4.Utilize the Resources on Campus: Penn State and some student organizations offers a number of initiatives to help students get through finals week like The annual “Late Night Study Break” in the dining commons. Students who have an on campus meal plan can go to dining commons areas to get a free (buffet style) meal. And a number of businesses downtown offer free coffee and sometimes snacks as well as an alternative place to study if you want to avoid wandering around the library to find somewhere to study.

These are just some of the tips to remember during Finals Week. Although most of the people on campus will be spending most of the week with their heads buried in a pile of books or drowning in flash cards you have to remember that as important as finals are they will be over in less than five days. So don’t stress too much and take a break and look at some memes like the ones below. Oh yeah and good luck!!

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