How Finals Can Make You Sick
Killing The Breeze on how finals can make you sick.
Finals week is the absolute worst part of the semester. You spend about 15 weeks of your life trying to learn endless amounts of information and make the best grades you can, only to have that grade you worked so hard for be dependent on this one last test. Even worse, you must take all of these determining tests in the same week, sometimes even on the same day!
Once that last day of classes is closed out, you may succumb to endless studying, sleepless nights, strange meal times (and choices), all the while hoping that your severe sleep deprivation will not completely destroy your test-taking abilities.
But, when the moment comes, as you place your pencil down after answering your last test question, you are overcome with a rush of emotions that you never knew you had. You feel happy, relieved, and somewhat worried all at the same time, though generally they come in stages.
Moment of Relief
You’ve realized exactly what you have done: you have conquered yet another semester. No more anxiety is to be had until your next round of school, and now you can finally allow yourself to breathe and stop binging on coffee. Your week has opened up, your bedtime is no longer based upon your homework load, and your wake-up time is no longer dependent on whether or not your got stuck with an 8am class. You don’t want to do anything, you don’t HAVE to do anything, and that moment of bliss takes over your entire body. Sweet, sweet freedom.
Moment of Panic
After feeling so proud of yourself for making it out of finals week in one piece, you start to recall what it is that you’ve done. What about your grades? Did you do well enough? I’m not sure if it’s just me, but thinking about the possible grades I could be stuck with because of my testing abilities is the utmost stressful thing ever. Finals truly do have the ability to destroy your grade, and if you’re not careful, you may have thrown away that A you worked so hard for all semester.
Rush of Exhaustion
Whether your celebrating or panicking in your head, you’re all of a sudden overcome with a wave of tiredness. That no sleeping streak has finally caught up with you, and you suddenly realize how much of a zombie you’ve been for the last week. Now, nothing else in the world matters except for a date with your bed.
Who cares if you got a C on your chemistry final? You’ll totally get an A in napping.
Now What?
This moment right here is where you contemplate your next step. You’ve already accomplished your tests, you’ve had a momentary lapse in confidence, and you’ve (tried) to catch up on your sleep, now all you’re left with is trying to decide what to do next.
Finals week is always looked at as a finish line, and the path that continues on afterwards is rarely considered until much later. That area of uncertainty is never realized until you actually reach it, and your open schedule and blank agenda must suddenly be filled before you start to worry yourself sick about what you’re doing with your life. Now, you must accept that the work doesn’t stop, the road doesn’t end, and finals are only a mere obstacle in your college life.
Oh finals week, you never fail to warp our minds into mush, even after it’s over.
