The Final Hour: Dealing with Stress During Finals

By Michael H. on April 24, 2012

photo from flickr.com, uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/5746405860/in/photostream/

Everyone has a different way of dealing with stress. Some procrastinate until they’re in a last-minute panic, while others prefer to work at it slowly over multiple days. When it comes to finals, it’s something that we all have to deal with.

First, make sure you sleep. Sleep helps your brain absorb the information that you’ve been pouring over so diligently. It also helps keep you alert so you aren’t about to pass out in the middle of your exam.

Second, make sure you eat. Your brain burns a lot of calories. Hunger is just going to be another distraction that you don’t need. Don’t worry about eating too much. It’s one week. You might end up eating more than usual. If you’re really worried about it, just work out more next week to make up for it. You have too much to worry about with exams to worry about slightly bad eating habits.

Last, and most important, make sure you don’t wait until the last minute to do all your studying. Frequently, students are given quite a bit of time between each final. At Michigan State, you don’t have to take more than 2 exams in one day if you don’t want to. Sometimes students opt to simply take 3 because it will make their lives easier. Plan this according to your course load and the expected difficulty of your exams.

Try to take a break every couple hours. Ideally, you could take a break every 50 minutes for 10 minutes. I just don’t like taking a break that frequently. It tends to make me feel like I’m not getting very much done. If it works for you, that’s great.

Also, life goes on. You won’t die just because you failed (or did poorly in) a class. Try taking it again, or simply move on if you can get by without it. Overall, just remember that it’s not the end of the world.

Good luck, and “may the odds be ever in your favor!”

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