So, this is finals week...

...I hope you stress out...?

Finals week is one of the most dreaded and miserable weeks of the school year. Why? Is it because it truly is more work and longer hours necessary to finish it all and to finish it well or is it because we have been conditioned to believe we are supposed to freak out? Seriously. If you've been paying attention and doing well on tests throughout the semester then that comprehensive final you're about to take should take some studying but you should have a pretty good grasp of the material. And if you haven't put in the work or done well to this point why do you care now? It's too late for you.
In reality, it's just a test, a little longer than usual, but the same material. And that paper you've been working on has been on the syllabus all semester...maybe you should have started earlier.
This is as much a note to me as it is to my fellow students. I get nervous during finals week, but a healthy amount of nervousness is actually beneficial. If I walk into a test totally confident and feeling like I already knew the material before I studied (if I studied), I will bomb. But, when I look over the material with a healthy amount of fear I am more aware and I do better. But not sleeping for 4 days and breaking down to cry in stairwells is a little much.
One of the most important things my momma ever taught me was to always make new mistakes. Last semester, I didn't start one of my 8 page papers until 2 nights before it was due. Mistake. This semester, I planned better and spaced everything out so that I've been working over the last 2 weeks on things.
My new mistake this semester is that now I have a bunch of three-quarter-finished assignments that I need to wrap up. But, I'm not stressed...too much.
Take a deep breath, friends. It's just three days. Get some coffee, take a twenty minute nap, do some Yoga, and get over it.