Beat the finals-week blues

By Alorah Saldana-Vigil

Finals week is quickly approaching and so are those deadlines! 

It is very easy to quickly be consumed in course work and studying, but it’s also important to take care of your mental and physical health. The cliche of college finals week consists of slamming mug after mug of coffee while throwing in a shot of espresso to help with the midday crash, but what if there were some healthier ways to cope with stress? 

Here are some tips to help you during one of the most stressful weeks of the year: 

• When studying, make sure you are in a well-ventilated area and take deep breaths every so often, especially if you are feeling frustrated. This will allow oxygen to your brain to help with absorbing content. Also, chewing some gum and staying hydrated helps you focus and stay on topic. 
• Stay organized by using a planner or writing all your assignments out and completing each one with a check mark. This is a great way to get ahead and lead with clarity, and it’s an easy task if you are a visual person and love to see things get checked off the list. 
• Make sure to use all of the resources given to you by your professor, as well as many of the resources around campus, such as writing labs. 
• Listen to some non-lyrical music to help absorb content and make studying a lot more bearable. 
• Do not procrastinate! Doing so will only set you more behind and more stressed out! Avoid that by being proactive, even if it is just a quick study session. 
• Above anything else, make sure you have a support system, whether that is your family, a pet or even an inanimate object on your desk you repeatedly talk to during your most frustrating scholarly moments. 

All of this studying time will soon pay off, and just remember that this too shall pass.