GET THROUGH FINALS WITH THESE TIPS

Finals: The most stressful time in college life that isn’t breakups, bills, assignments, projects, work, family drama…
Okay, maybe it’s not the most stressful time, but it still sucks, nonetheless. You go to class at different time than usual, you sit in there for an hour-and-a-half while the teacher looms there, going, “You’re on your own,” and you have the impending doom of the next test, which is sure to break you and leave you to fail.
But, just like slogging through the single life, I have been through many of these scenarios and have come up with another list for your pleasure, and practical use, to get you through to the end of your Spring Term finals – if that end ever comes.

1. Listen to Music. As our good host Kel Buell stated in one of The Advocate’s broadcast streams (twitch.tv/mhccadvocast), when you listen to music while studying and then listen again while taking the test, you may be able to retain more, when it comes down to it. That is, until you find that one song that you have to head bop to, lose all sense of time, and before you know it, have only 5 minutes to be in class and find you have done NOTHING.
2. Get a good night’s sleep. Sleep is necessary to live. Sleep is necessary to think. If you want to pass, you need quite a bit of the stuff in order to function. That is, until all the nightmares come of your failing projects and all the people you are failing because to them you just can’t seem to do anything right… AAARRGGHH!!!! Sorry, just woke up.
3. Eat a good breakfast. This is Test Taking 101: Eating a good breakfast helps with metabolism and helps with the brain, so go to the refrigerator, get that food! Or not, because you’re a college student and you have no money to pay for food because it all went toward tuition, or whatever fraction that wasn’t taken up by paying off student loans.
4. Arrive early on the test day. This isn’t just a thing for tests; this is good for real life. Arriving early shows you’re prepared for whatever. At least until you realize that traffic is blocking the road and you decide to hit that snooze button one too many times. Now you’re in a rush and, oh, the final is already over…
5. Don’t procrastinate. Honestly? You’re a young adult in college and you’ll find anything to distract you. It happens to everyone, even teacher – they’ll tell you.
6. Watch for clues. Every teacher has a certain style on how they handle tests and lessons. Half of the battle is learning how the teacher teaches his or her students. But you never listened in class, due to the lack of sleep from those nightmares. So have fun trying to remember how this instructor does essay questions!
7. Set a schedule. Schedules keep you organized. They keep you on track, so you can make your goals. But, dang, that Shawn Mendes concert was good, and now you’re home from all that euphoria and you need to study for tomorrow. But it’s 10 o’clock, and you feel so good; how about an hour nap? Yeah. And now it’s 6 o’clock and you have to cram.
8. Don’t Cram. Stuffing your brain last-minute is never a good idea. You’ll never remember the stuff, but now you’ve wasted your time with other things… Speed run of the Anthropology textbook: Ready, and go!
   Well, there you go, Saints, eight easy steps.
   Who am I kidding? I’m a college student just like most of you, who are now or who have already been in college. Honestly, we are all different, and just like the case with snake oil, there is no cure-all. I never really found any of these things to work.
   Whatever you do to be successful, do it, because you have your own journey. You don’t need a strict regimen to be successful.

Advocate Staff