I think this ties in beautifully with finals week, and here's why. Many students are craming studying, staying up all night, some resort to drugs and alchol to stay awake, and they drive themselves literally insane. There is no need for that though. We know more than we actually might think, so studying for ten, twelve, or fifteen hours straight ain't going to help you, plain English. It is going to hurt you not eating right, not sleeping right, and not taking small ten to fifteen minute breaks during studying.
What this piece of wisdom means is basically through all these finals, it is all hyped up. While most of it is on us, the students, some of it can come from our parents, friends, and even the professors themselves. We psych ourselves out for these finals, as if it was a world championship boxing match, and it's very unnecessary. The worst is already over, when we start to take the test. We sit down and realize that the test is easier than you ever thought it was going to be, and you breeze through it, because you do remember this stuff, even if you think you don't. It's back there somewhere in your brain.
Life is too short to worry about all of this nonsense of one final, in one class, in one semester of college. Again it is totally unnecessary to psych yourselves out to the point you become physically ill. I have seen that both back in high school, and here in college, where people study all night for days and even weeks before the actual test occurs, and they run their immune system down into the ground at a million miles an hour. Then they get sick from the cold or something, and have a tough time concentrating on the final or whatever, and don't do as hot as they would have liked to, because they tried to do too much before hand.
Sometimes we need to step back and realize, you're not going to get a hundred on every final, and you aren't going to remember every little thing that was said over the last three months of classes, no matter good of notes you take. Big deal. Life goes on. There are more important things to worry about than a final. But some people don't see it like that so here are few tips that I learned over my years at Kellenberg on how to take finals. This list is meant to be funny, but the main points are very true...
(Listen, before I start the list, if you guys are stressed out over a 50 question test with like maybe one essay that you have almost two hours to do, I would love to see what you guys would do in Kellenberg for Trimesters and Comps! Trimesters were 150 questions of all different varieties like multiple choice, matching, and true / false, and a choice of two essays out of four, in which sometimes there were mandatory essays involved, with an hour and a half to take them, and you had two in one day, for three straight days. Comps were 300 questions, usually a mandatory essay or two, and then a choice of three or four essays out of either seven or eight, with three hours to take the test, once a day, for six straight days! All you guys need a take a chill pill or two ... or ten!)
1. Take Breaks - You need to study for about fifteen or twenty minutes of review, then take a break of five minutes or so. Eat, go to the bathroom, go outside, read a book, (honestly, reading something else helps remember the previous stuff you've studied), surf the web, check social media. Also breath a bit. I heard something that could be a bit important is BREATHING. Don't hyperventilate and be killing yourself (I've see this, and it's kinda strange, not gonna lie here.) It's all about bringing the mind back to a sense of normalcy and comfort, and a feeling of sick joy.
2. Get a Good Night Sleep! - What good are you if you can't take the test, because you are literally sleeping on top of it. Have a cut-off time, usually after about six hours or so, and then stop and sleep. I don't mean nap, I mean sleep for a few hours. Then wake up and maybe study a bit more. You prove nothing else to anyone that you stayed up and studied all night, other than that you're an idiot!
3. Don't Do Drugs! - Seriously... Seriously! Haven't you heard that crack is whack, and all that good stuff. If you remember anything while drunk and / or high, God Bless You! There is this feeling in college, that taking drugs that make you focus is a good idea, and helps increase test scores. All it increases is that you are now real focused on the test in front of you, but you are now also more aware that you don't know shit. (This kid and the kid that stays up all night, probably are best friends, possibly roommates too.)
4. Study Partners Don't Work - They might every now and then in a blue moon, but they really don't most of the time. If it's two guys, or a group of guys, they start studying for thirty seconds, get bored, and either play Call of Duty, flip on ESPN or a game and talk sports, or start playing games about which girl in their classes is hotter than the other. It can even turn into the Geneva Convention sometimes for Christ sake! If it is two girls, or a group of girls, then they study for a like a minute and a half, and then they usually either drink wine in a circle, make fun of other girls on social media, (usually Twitter), talk about how cute James looked in the quad today, watch a movie, and then cry to each other that they are getting fat and no one loves them, while they become friends with two guys named Ben and Jerry. (Trust me, I've seen it!) Guys and girls studying together rarely works either and sometimes, they wind up studying, but studying other subjects that aren't on the test ... you know what I mean ... Anatomy if you will. You need to focus on your studying, and not stall all night. If you are stalling all night, then invite Mr. Sleep Depravation, and Mr. Adderall to your room, because they are probably still up too.
5. Breakfast? - Is eating pancakes or an egg really gonna get you higher test scores. No, just eat something light and study some more. If you think that this alone makes the difference between passing and failing, then I've got some bad new for you! Maybe Mr. Adderall can give you some amphetamines or weed or something I don't know, to keep you busy, while you think that's a good idea.
6. Cheating? - No! Don't cheat, what are you five? If you are gonna cheat, get creative. Don't be looking around and leaning over people, what is this 1998 with these techniques? Tap the desk and morse code that crap like I used to do for my friends back in high school. (What it's in the past! We all make mistakes ... or do we?) But seriously, don't cheat on a final. I never cheated on a trimester or comp for anyone, (And I mean that, I was asked many times by many pretty girls, the cheerleaders, my crushes, to help out on finals, I didn't do it. Boy was I a DUMBASS!) I only helped on dumb quizzes and some tests. Quizzes sure, go ahead, Tests maybe, but Finals, HHEEEELLLL NO! Be smart son!
7. Friends Get You Through It - It might sound redundant and stupid, but it is so true. Friends definitely get you through the rough times, and they help get through a stupid final or two. If they don't help you through it, then why are you still friends with them? I'm not judging you ... maybe just a little, I don't know. Maybe I am, big deal!
8. Don't Treat It Like It's the End of the World! - This one is a Biggie here, (No not the rapper, Shut up!) Like I said before, this one final, in one class, of one semester, is not going to be the straw that breaks the camels back, and makes you die in the middle of the Sahara Dessert. It might sting, and it might make you sad, but then come back next semester, get pissed, and get after the next class, and make that grade look like a fluke and a mistake, and not the real you!
So in closing, the worst part of finals is over, before the final even begins. Don't stress yourself out, because you know more than you think you do. You are smarter than you think you are. Just breathe, relax, and go do the best you can do. If you fail giving it your all, I guarantee it that it will all be alright in the end!
Was the list funny? (It's ok if you say no, it's just my feelings we are dealing with here!) But seriously, are you stressing out about finals? What do you do to calm yourself down during finals?
Peace and Love,
DGS
Quotes of the Day: "Life is ninety percent physical, the other half is mental!" - Yogi Berra
"They give you cash, which is almost as good as money!" - Yogi Berra