Overcoming the Stress of Finals

Kristin Rosenmund, Administrator

While most students at Rio Mesa in the past have used their winter break to tackle on all their missing assignments and prepare for the finals, that isn’t the case this year!  Finals will go from December 21-23, and then the semester is over.  Attempting to study and finish work can be an extremely overwhelming process, especially when you feel crunched for time.  Here at the Spartan Scoop, we wanted to provide our readers with some inspiration and ideas on how to power through finals week with as few breakdowns as possible.

 

  1. Allow Yourself to Take Breaks

Stressing over the million things you have to complete or study for each class can make it seem like you have no time to even think about yourself.  While it seems so easy for someone to tell you to just take a break, most of the time you really do need it.  Taking breaks allows our minds to process all the information we have been struggling for hours to retain.  You might go on a walk and that math problem that nearly brought you to tears earlier will finally click. In order to understand life, we have to live life.  With that, go out and let your mind wander before approaching that big project or final you have to study for.  Staring at an assignment for hours will only make the quality you produce worse.

2. Sleep

There will be a certain point where you just simply don’t understand something you’re studying for.  And that’s okay!  Go to sleep!  Pulling all nighters may seem like an amazing idea, until you realize that our memory is only able to gather information through sleep.  So even if you’ve stayed up all night studying, you’ll most likely find yourself forgetting when it comes to test day.  Put your best foot forward in your efforts, and once you know you have tried to finish and study to the best of your ability, you can’t be disappointed.

3. Remember That This is Only Three Days of Studying

When the realization of all the tests you have to take hits, you may want to back out and just give up.  This is when it is important to remember that this is only three days out of your life.  Before you know it, you’ll be on break not having to worry about any assignments or tests, because the semester will be over!  Meaning you can’t worry about school even if you try.  So, take this time to prepare yourself for your tests, and remember you won’t be feeling this stressed forever.

 

In life, we base so much of our worth off of little meaningless things.  If you end up not getting the results you wanted at the end of this week, don’t spend time worrying about it.   A lot of the time, we base our value off of something as insignificant as one grade, a person, or harsh words said.  There is not one thing that determines how worthy of a person you are.

 

Put forth your best efforts this week and apply what you have already learned and accomplished into everything you need to get done these next few days. Be proud of all that you are.