Finals Week: the five days of the semester that students love and hate.
Some love it because all they have are finals and no classes; others hate it because they have three or more finals that week and they're the hardest days of their lives.
It's a week filled with high consumption of high-caffeine energy drinks and coffee and lots of sugary snacks for those all-nighters. Whatever the particular case may be, students need to be smart when studying for finals.
Freshman telecommunications major Erin Anderson spent her Fall Semester Finals Week at Ball State University doing just those things — cramming, staying up all night and consuming lots of caffeine.
"I did a lot of cramming and a lot of very, very long nights," she said.
Much of her studying occurred the week before Finals Week because she had a lot of big projects due.
"One night, I had one hour of sleep because I was working on a telecommunications project," she said. "I went to bed at 6:30 a.m. and woke up at 7:30 a.m. It was more like a nap."
In addition to doing a lot of studying, Anderson drank a lot of energy drinks to keep her going.
"I drank Red Bull, Monster. My pee turned green because that's all I drank," she said.
She said the drinks, the knowledge that she had to get her work done and other people helped keep her awake through those long nights.
Anderson spent a large amount of her time in her residence hall's study lounge. She never went to the library to study or used her room.
However, she also found some ways to relax during the times of stress.
"There were some movie nights," she said. "I went out for ice cream one night and I went tanning."
Although the cramming and all-nighters worked for Anderson, it's not a recommended way to study.
Quin Hanson, a sophomore biochemistry major and tutor at the Learning Center, said there are simple tips for good studying, eating, sleeping and relaxing during Finals Week to make it go smoothly.
With studying, it's a lot about managing your time wisely.
Hanson suggests to start studying now. If it's comprehensive, he says to make sure you plan on revisiting all sections of your texts and, even if it's not comprehensive, take time between classes now and during Finals Week to study.
"Review exams, quizzes and homework," Hanson said. "Because professors like to reuse material."
When it comes to eating, Hanson says to always eat a good breakfast, not just a Pop-Tart. For lunch, you don't want to drink things heavy in caffeine and sugar. Natural sugars are preferred, such as those found in bananas and apples.
"Coffee and energy drinks can affect performance later on in the week," Hanson said.
Besides good nutrition habits during Finals Week, students should have good sleeping habits and not stay up all night studying.
"Your brain stores information while you sleep," Hanson said. "I think [all-nighters] are useless. They do more harm than help."
Hanson's final tip: Between all the studying before and during Finals Week, make sure you take the time to relax.
He recommends breathing exercises and either traditional exercise or stretching.
During Finals Week, please do yourself a favor and study. You haven't spent all semester going to class and doing your homework to blow it at the end of the year. But, while you are studying, take some of the above tips to heart and study, eat, sleep and relax in smart ways.
Write to Sara at snnahrwold@bsu.edu.
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