Tips for the Stressed Out College Kid

This time of year is always stressful for everyone. I’m not talking about the holidays or finances, I’m talking about the finals week. Every semester, it seems like there are 20 projects, eight papers, and six two-hour long exams to get through. This also doesn’t help that many professors do not coordinate with each other and make all of these things due on the same day. That being said, I have a few helpful tips for the stressed out college kid. First, make a calendar. I think this is one of the most underrated tools in your academic toolkit. Write down all of the due dates on your phone, on an actual calendar, or just make a calendar out of scratch paper and call it a day. This will help you keep track and not accidently forget to hand in that project. Also, be sure to put on this calendar the times and days you plan on working on all of these things to give yourself proper time management. Second, do not stress out. There is nothing worse than just replaying all of the things you haven’t done yet in your head. It only ends up being that much more difficult to start a project when all you can do is think about how much of it you haven’t even started yet. In my experience, there is only one way to effectively do this; stop worrying about how much you haven’t completed and start congratulating yourself on how much of your work you have completed. This will help you focus more and get engaged in your work. Finally, ask for help if you need it. If you’re writing an excessively long paper for gen. ed. credit, ask one of your roommates or friends who have taken the class for some advice. You never know who is a secret genius that can help you get that A, or C if that’s all you’re shooting for. There is also the student success center that can always help you find a tutor for almost any class you need help with. For those who do not know, it is located right by Hawk Hall, the red door on B comp. There you have it, you can get through these next couple of weeks easy peasy, just don’t loose focus and you’ll be fine.