A note on finals stress

Piled upon you at sky-scraping heights, your work sits dauntingly awaiting your distress signal for some possible alleviation. You cry out to the stress gods to have at least ample mercy on your party-deprived soul, but alas, your cry is muffled. It is stress-signal stifled by the endless array of study guide material dancing on your tongue, temporarily oppressing your linguistic capabilities because recitation is your golden ticket to memorization in these trying final exam times and you simply cannot settle for anything less.

Yes. Believe me, it is understood and on all accounts relatable that you have seemingly capsized in a sea of overwhelming facts, figures, charts, graphs, literature concepts and historical analysis and do not even know where to begin looking for chill in your week or possibly even day. Excitingly enough, relaxation may be just around the corner for you.

First off, take a moment to calm down. I am not asking for your entire study session time, just any convenient moment out of your day that you are capable of sparing. No more than five minutes tops. Utilize this one moment you have taken and breathe deeply before then asking yourself what all do I really have to do that holds meaning.

List these things just in your head.  Really, be honest with yourself with what holds true meaning. By that I mean things that directly affect you as an individual in this world. Whether that be a detrimental effect from you choosing not to do it or just a particularly beneficial one considering you do, do it. These are effects on you and no one else.  Once you have done that, evaluate the overall urgency and priority value of each. I mean literally looking at your internal planner and see what daily tasks and agenda fillers fill the spaces closest to now while scheduling your time accordingly. So many people often find their routine stress-o-meter going off in the events of poor scheduling. So all I am asking of you here is to do yourself a favor and make the hard parts a little easier.

Lastly, I suggest breaks. Within your newly chronicled and prioritized schedule, create time, yes I said, create time. You may not at first feel exists, and just do something by choice. Do not take too much time, potentially compromising the schedule you have already worked so hard to manipulate to your best interest, but just a few miniscule seconds to prevent your cranium from combustion. Make sure this activity is not something that may hinder your work ethic, such as taking a quick shot of Jack Daniels or jumping in the rotation of a quick smoke with your friends. This may result in a harsh backlash as you retreat into a hole you will have to dig yourself out of later on seriously attempting to create time that will not be there anymore.

Remember in all of this that freshman, senior or whatever classification you may be, finals week is a pivotal period in your college career where only the strong will survive. Darwinian fitness proves in science that the students who will become more prevalent on a college campus are those that have the traits to support their existence there (not a tested analysis). Therefore, realize that party Thursday will not affect you after that night, but studying for that test you have Friday will. Manage your stress levels so that it does not eat you alive, chew you up and spit you out on the unsuccessful side of life. You have got four years to get it together and make it work, so do not wait for help or for a stress to claim your soul. You got this.