For college students, the semester is almost over. You can practically taste your bed at home, and you’re ready to close your laptop once and for all. Finals, mid-terms, and testing season is honestly the most dreadful part about being in college. Cramming your schedule with study time, barely getting enough sleep, and feeling like no matter what you do you just can’t remember the material you’re being tested on. On top of all of that, professors don’t make it any easier on us by piling homework assignments on our plate as well. You can do well throughout the whole semester- turning work in on time, passing quizzes, being an active participant, but if you mess up on your final your grade is completely ruined. It’s stressful and it’s another aspect of college no one ever really takes time out to prep you for, they just expect for you to be able to handle it. To open that conversation up, I want to share with you all some tips I’ve picked up from friends, family, and through trial and error of how to better approach the dreaded midterm season. Keep reading!
1. Create A Set Schedule For Studying And Prep Time
Make this time of year a little bit easier on yourself. Avoid sporadic study sessions. Plan out days and times to study that work best for your schedule and stick to it! Monday for this class, Tuesday for another class, etc. What we often tend to do is cram all of the subjects we’re studying for in one day and that does nothing but overwhelm us. It ultimately makes it impossible for us to ever truly learn the curriculum.
We’re left feeling burnt out and uttering the phrase, “I’m going to fail this test.” When you have that set schedule it allows you more breathing room. It also helps to further what topics you’ll be studying for each class.
Say you’re taking psychology, physics, and calculus. Setting aside one day for each subject will give you way more time to get creative with how you can make sure you’re properly learning the content. Most importantly, make sure you’re incorporating a rest day in your schedule. While it seems like you would be essentially “wasting time,” you’re giving your mind and body fuel to intake all the information you’re trying to learn.
2. Come Up With fun And Engaging Ways To Remember The Curriculum
Studying does not have to be boring. When we allow it to become that way it makes it harder for us to truly grasp the content, because we’re too busy falling asleep! We’re a creative generation, and we need to use that more to our advantage when it comes to classroom settings.
Try to incorporate passions you have into your school work. If you’re good at writing, try to make a poem or a song to help you remember some vocabulary words that keep slipping your mind. If you’re good at creating content, make a reel or a TikTok that can be used as a visual to help you fully understand that one topic that’s giving you trouble.
We see on TikTok so many young professors who are using popular songs as melodies to help their students remember what they’re going over in class, you would be surprised at how much it helps.
3. Keep Communication With Your Professors
Don’t think you have to completely go solo on your finals. Try to keep contact open with your professors so you can let them know where exactly you’re struggling. I’ve encountered so many students who completely avoided asking their professors for help and it made their studying process so much harder.
It’s never a bad thing to ask for help. Most professors, even though some can be a bit more cold hearted, ultimately just want to see us succeed. Closed mouths don’t get fed. If someone doesn’t know you need help, how will they ever be able to assist you?
These are just a few tips that have helped me to avoid massive amounts of stress that typically come with finals. Creating a set study schedule, making the content fun and interactive, and never being ashamed to reach out to your professors to ask for help. It’s important that you’re also paying attention to how much rest and social time you’re allowing for yourself.
Like I mentioned earlier, that resting time is needed to make sure that you’re getting the fuel needed to help you learn content well. Lean on your friends during this time. Although it feels like it, you’re not going through this alone. I’ll always emphasize this, you’re going to school to better yourself , accomplish your goals, and get jump started into your career. Make school work for you, don’t let it work you.
Alycia Kamil is a freedom fighter and believer of the people. She is a Freshman at Wilbur Wright College. Follow her writings, interests and more here.
