With finals week commencing, I find myself in a gray area. I’m not really stressed out, but I’m not exactly on easy street either. Since I’ve been a student here at OSU, finals week always seems to be my most stressful week of the quarter, as it is for many other students. Trying to juggle the last stretch of coursework given during Week 10 and study for finals is very difficult for me, not to mention student organization meetings, working out and finding time to sleep; balance is not in my vocabulary. What I’ve found recently about myself that might be able to help other students is to try to fit in some “you” time, to not spend the majority of your time worrying about finals and living out of a book bag in William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. I’m not saying don’t study, because I for one will be spending a generous amount of my time studying, but to do so in moderation. Burnout during the home stretch is not a good thing to acquire.

To beat my finals week blues, I’m going to try to dedicate specific times to study for my finals and prioritize the order in which I study my material. Looking at one chapter over and over again for three hours straight is not going to help when there are several chapters to cover. Balance and prioritizing is the key. Focus on what you don’t know and then review the material that you are confident about.

Also during this week, I suggest taking the time out to do things that will help you relax and create a fun time. Go get ice cream with friends, watch a funny movie. Pampering yourself can always ease the stress that weighs heavy during finals week. Positive thinking and relaxation always helps relieve tension that arises as well. If you go into any situation believing that you are going to fail, or that the worst-case scenario will happen, nine times out of 10, it will. Having a positive mindset going into finals week was always a hard thing for me to do. I always assume that even if I study hard and understand the material I’m still going to perform badly, worrying myself until I have performance anxiety and in the end do worse than I imagined myself doing.

I’m not saying my methods to decrease finals week depression will help, but it wouldn’t hurt to try some new methods. Making small changes can definitely give you positive results and a different outlook on your situation. So get out there and conquer those finals week blues!