As the semester comes to an end, and a much needed break is nearly within our grasp, there is still one more dreadful week we as students need to get through. Finals. This week is dreaded by students as the seasons begin to change and we realize that winter is here, which means so the hardest weeks of our lives. Personally, this semester, I only have one in person final, and 4 other final papers to write as well. Not only do two of my papers land on the same day, my in person final isn’t until the very last day of the semester, giving me plenty of time to stress out over it everyday!
The thought of taking a final itself is mentally draining. We as a society put so much pressure on ourselves to do the best possible on these tests that determine our final grades in classes we spent months trying to accomplish. This causes an extreme amount of stress on a person. I’m not a good test taker to begin with, add the fact that this test can determine whether or not I pass a class? That’s a recipe for disaster. I also watch it happen to all of my friends. We go from these joyful moods of school nearly being over for Christmas, to falling into finals week depression. We sit and we stress over trick questions and open answered questions and for what? To find out how good we did in a class that may have no relevance to my degree.
Not only is finals week mentally draining, it is physically draining too. I look back on my freshman year, I had one final left and then I was good to go home. It just so happened that it was going to be my hardest final. I was cramming months worth of work into a couple weeks of trying to remember every formula and rule I have ever learned for this class. My eyes are barely open from staring at screen and my hands can’t bare to do another math problem. I stay up all night studying trying to prep myself. When I finally do get to go to sleep, I wake up throughout the night in fear that I am going to sleep through my 8am final the next morning. So I go to the final, I take the test and I walk out feeling very not confident. Next I have to go home and face my parents who constantly ask me what my final grades are and why I can’t do well on these tests. The only answers I have is that the stress physically causes my body anxiety and I can’t function during these tests. This is something that happens to so many students at the end of the semester and our already drained and fatigued bodies can only take so much from the stress these taxing tests give us.
Thanks for coming to my little end of the semester rant, I’m gonna get to work stressing about all my papers now.
Unruly Bodies 
Finals can be very stressful, it creates a sense of urgency and anxiety, but just think of the relief you will feel when it is all said and done, it is all over. That is what drives me to be proactive & constructive with my time. What helps reduce stress for me is setting a schedule, I will do this and this for this long today, and this and this for so long tomorrow- it helps me relax because once the clock strikes whatever time I stop all my work and relax, and reward myself with my hobbies. Make time for winding down and relaxing at the end of the day, treat it as a reward for all of your work- once the clock hits you aren’t allowed to stress about it until the next day. I wish you the best of luck on your finals 🙂
Taking a final, let alone preparing one’s own brain for that amount of pressure is asinine to me. For one to memorize a cloud full of knowledge just to pour it out through one ear after an exam seems unbelievable. I can absolutely fully relate to you when saying finals week or weeks can be completely draining, both physically and mentally. I feel as if I spend the majority of lie staring at screens, and such thoughts conjure up new ideas of a way to escape the ever so pressurized academic environment. I just attempt to remember to take it a day at a time, a minute at a time and one singular word at a time. Well get through this! Thanks for sharing!
I fully relate to this post and just the end of the semester sucking in general. I have been putting off one of my papers for so long (yes it was assigned at the beginning of the semester) simply because my brain cannot handle the thought of having to do any more research at this point. I finally started, and it’s kind of going, but I feel like my brain focuses so much harder on how bad I don’t want to be writing it than actually focusing on the content. Another thing that has been really difficult this semester is not stressing myself too hard about grades. I obviously want to do well, but I feel like I was constantly putting myself down before if I wasn’t getting the best grade possible, and it just isn’t helpful for my mental well being.
I hope your finals go well and you don’t have to stress yourself out too too hard. Good luck!
Stress takes such a heavy toll on your mind and body. When the source is something so routine like finals, its recognized as being stressful but not taken as seriously as it should. I know I am always physically sick after finals because the stress give my immune system such a hit. Personally, I think high stress environments cannot possibly be a part of an accurate testing system. So the whole finals week thing seems flawed and not a good measure of what it claims to be measuring. Take time for yourself. Good luck!
I relate to this post on so many levels. Last year especially I felt finals take a toll on me both mentally and physically. Mentally I was already going through a lot especially with quarantine and physically I had a cold, I was on my period, and I was not getting proper sleep. All I did was do work, study, and drink coffee. I would take breaks every once in a while to cry. After I got the grades I wanted I had to reflect on how terribly I treated myself. Sure I got straight A’s, but the I had lost weight, hair, and my mental health was awful. Since then, I always remind myself to take a break, to eat, to take care of myself. I still have moments where I forget to take a break but eventually I have to remind myself that my mental and physical health are more important than a grade. Good luck with your finals and make sure to take care of yourself!
I agree with this post a lot. When I think about it, I’ve never had a final exam improve my grade. I’ve only ever gotten worse grades in a class after taking a final exam. And to be clear, I am not someone who experiences test anxiety. I usually perform bad on finals just for the shear fact that it is back to back exams in every class for like one week. It’s very stressful but also just too mentally and physically demanding. It doesn’t leave room for being a human, there is no time to sleep or recover between exams and God forbid, you get sick during finals season… And honestly, the point of having these high stakes, large cumulative exams isn’t very clear to me. If I’ve proved my knowledge this whole semester, why test me on the same material again? What changed between now and September besides the fact that I’m burnt out now? I wish more professors would consider alternatives like projects or at least making the final worth less points than midterms. I hate that sometimes the final can swing even an A to a failing grade. I think we are all owed a proper chance to show our knowledge instead of this test of who can stay up the latest and cram faster.