Getting Ready for the Final Crunch

By Ashley Mertel

As the fall semester winds down, projects, papers, portfolios, presentations, and finals seem to pile up. With all the added stress of keeping up grades and maintaining a good GPA, how do students cope without having a nervous breakdown?

ESU senior Ryan Wells said, “You don’t.”

When asked about how he will for his finals, Wells answered, “Day by day. I have to take it one at a time instead of looking at all of my finals as a whole.” As for maintaining sanity, Wells explained he would try to make time for friends and fun, even in the hectic finals week. “I have designated ‘study times’ where I work on learning my course material. I always leave a few hours a day to hang out with friends, watch a little TV and get my mind off class.”

Katie Casagrande, an ESU senior, had a different idea about preparing for finals. “I try to relax. I have a lot of English courses right now, so I try to write my papers ahead of time. As for my finals, I study for about an hour at a time, taking a break so I don’t get too overwhelmed.”

ESU student Ashlee Austin laughed when asked about how she prepares for her finals. “I have four finals, all of which consist of straight memorization. I’ll be studying every minute of finals week that I’m not actually taking a test.” When asked if stress is a factor Austin answered, “Yeah, it is. I feel like the weight of my college semester is on my shoulders for five days. It’s not until I finish the last test that I can finally step back and breathe.”

No matter how ESU students cope with finals, one thing is for sure: they need to rest, study, take breaks and breathe through them.

Email Ashley at:

abm3087@live.esu.edu