I painted my nails on Sunday and by the middle of the week, they were badly chipped, the skin around my nails having been picked over until raw.

It seems like during finals week, everyone’s thrown off their game.

And yet we find ourselves sitting around a table focused on our individual finals, collaborating when we can, otherwise floating in our own personal clouds of doubt and confusion.

Finals week puts a damper on your social life. It sort of allows you to time out of any major drama that was brewing in previous weeks once you bury your head in the textbook you wish you had taken seriously.

How do you know other people are suffering the same way? By the over-capacity of the libraries during this single time of the quarter.

Oh, and you’ll of course know by hearing the panicked breathing of the over-caffeinated guy sitting next to you in an exam, who glances at your paper way too many times (!!!???)

Just because this week drives everyone to extremes doesn’t mean you gotta do that.

You know what finals week feels like? It feels like climbing a treacherous hill right before you reach paradise. You have to get over the hill before you can reach paradise; there is functionally no other way to get to your destination otherwise.

Two extremes, that, when put back-to-back, lack important emphasis on moderation and actually make the overall process more efficient. We don’t learn as well when we have to binge for a week and then purge it all the next.

And to think, the best method might just be learning all of the material as it comes and holding out until the end of the quarter?

But, when you compare the whole shebang to the spastic process that I experienced in high school, I suppose I do like this method better. It’s more straightforward, which is a lifestyle trait that I think I should try to adopt.

The curriculum and learning habits encouraged here are more straightforward, and professors tend to reward those who do the reading, not teacher’s pets or those who can bullshit or are pro at busy-work.

Also, this Thought Catalog article:

The Fine Art of Surviving Finals Week

Also, this whole page.

---