How to get through finals week with minimal stress

It’s about to be finals week – the assignments are beginning to get lighter, your classes are starting to slow down and one thing is on your mind: just getting through it.

So what is the best way to manage the stress, uncertainty and overwhelming feelings that come along with finals week?

Well, that depends. 

The best way to handle stress is different for everyone. However, we can safely say that the best way to head into a final exam with the most confidence and certainty is to be prepared. It may seem cliche and obvious, but many students will waltz into their classroom completely unprepared and sit down to take the most important test of the semester. Studying notes, rehearsing presentations, talking amongst your other classmates and getting a good night’s sleep before your big day are all great ways to prepare yourself. However you want to go about each of those is exactly how you should do it. No one knows yourself better than you. 

However, it is important to be able to separate all of your classes and just focus on one at a time. Stress often comes when you become overwhelmed, and in preparing for a big test, your focus can only be on one subject. Prepare for all of your work, but when the time comes, try to focus on that one topic.

Trust in yourself. Test-taking is a skill, and the best advice we can give is to just trust yourself. If you run across a question you aren’t sure of, trust your gut, don’t spend too much time on it and go back to it later if you have the time. If not, at least you know you answered all of the questions that you knew. If it is a presentation, you most likely have spent the past few days, weeks, months, etc. studying the product or information you will be speaking about, and at that point, you have done everything that you can to earn the grade that you deserve. 

With all of this being said about working hard, studying, focusing and whatnot, it should also be known that taking breaks is absolutely necessary as well. Still prioritize your mental well-being. You most likely won’t be able to focus if your mind is burnt out. But if you do take breaks and still try to enjoy the week, you should still have a smile on your face when you walk into the classroom to ace that big exam.

Happy finals week everyone, we at The Reporter want to wish everyone good luck and we hope you all have a great winter break!