Between realizing that finals are this week and tragically losing the ACC Championship, it was the scariest of Sundays to kick off this finals season. Fear not, fellow UVA students: our football season may have been cut short, but our academic comeback doesn’t have to be as well. Here’s how to get through this last stretch before winter break…UVA edition.
+ Go out on LDOC
What screams “I’m ready to finish this semester strong” more than going out on the last day of class (LDOC)? You might have to wait in a long line for at least twenty minutes, but hey, it’ll (hopefully) be worth freezing for. It might be finals season, but tradition is tradition and living up to the “Work hard, play hard” motto is important. What better way to kick off the hardest two weeks of the semester than a good ol’ night out?
+ Spend money on coffee
Normally, I try to be careful with my money. But a funny thing happens when finals season hits, and suddenly I’m perfectly fine with dipping into my savings account for a $7 latte. Coffee becomes less of a treat and more of a quintessential need this time of year, an omnipresent accompaniment to every study session. The justifications for these purchases become weaker and weaker, until you have to face the fact that this is just a necessity for those long hours cramming facts into your head.
+ Have an erratic schedule
Once finals season truly hits, when the exam dates are looking scarily close, you lose all sense of time. Staying up till 3AM, causing you to sleep in and repeat the schedule? Yeah, pretty normal–most people have spent more hours in the library than sleeping. If you’re lucky, you might find a seat in the library where you can watch the sunset as you accept your fate that you’ll be grounded in that spot for the foreseeable future. A few nights ago, I pulled an all-nighter—started the day out in Shannon, which closed at 2 A.M, and spent the remainder of my night in Clem. When I migrated there, I was surprised to see that it was still lively; even more surprised that when I finally departed at 5 A.M that there was still a considerable amount of people still pushing through. Misery loves company, and so do UVA students, apparently. Who even knows what day it is anymore; you only count how many days until your next exam.
+ Lose any notion of health
According to the CDC, “research shows a strong connection between healthy behaviors and academic achievement.” This is great in theory, but unfortunately this message fails to account for these couple weeks that feel like endless exams and assignments. And, as everyone knows, hydrating is one of the most important health factors—if, of course, you mean hydrating with an energy drink. For some, caffeine becomes one of their main food groups and sleep is a luxury. Everyone tells you to take care of yourself, but under these circumstances, that advice loses all meaning. On particularly arduous days, students may be seen heading to the vending machines for a scant dinner. At the end of the day, studying for five exams already feels difficult enough; healthy habits can become attainable once winter break starts.
+ Waste time
Aside from the universal struggle of finding a study spot with the big three (outlet, quiet, and space), it’s also difficult to get momentum on schoolwork. You could start studying as soon as you get to the library, but why not spend an hour figuring out what to listen to? After all, Spotify Wrapped just dropped and you just have to curate the perfect playlist. An hour spent in a lecture hall feels like the seconds are in slow motion, but that first hour before actually doing work goes by in the blink of an eye. Time never feels quite as fast as when you’re checking emails or setting up your Apple ecosystem (the various combinations of laptop, charger, earbuds, iPads, etc), or doing a cursory scroll through Tikok. But hey, breaks are productive, right?
And there you have it—basically everything you could need to survive finals. Preserve and power through—you’re almost done and you can revel in the bliss that is an empty Canvas “to-do” page. Until next semester, Hoos!
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