How to get through the last few weeks of the semester and finals

Finals can be the most stressful time of the semester; just check out our article from last year. However, getting through spring finals seems even more brutal, since the reward is so much greater! Finish these babies and you’re done for the summer: three months of respite from having to think about anything related to homework, essays and other not-so-peachy aspects associated with the school year. But we’re not there yet, so buckle up and get ready for the slowest two weeks of the semester!

1. Lay off planning your summer until after finals are over. News flash, if you haven’t already found something to do for this summer yet, your luck probably isn’t going to change within the next two weeks. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t still pursue a summer opportunity, but put it on hold to finish your semester on a high note.
2. Don’t let the weather distract you. Hmm, seeing as it’s predicted to snow on Saturday maybe this isn’t the most relevant advice at the moment. But when it’s 75 and beautiful on May 7 and your friends beckon you to hike Chautauqua and smoke a joint or three, kindly tell them “another time” if you want to crush your finals. If you want the best of both worlds, you can always study outside.
3. Don’t waste time doing things like updating/editing your spring break photo albums on social media! Unlike in fall semester, where the longest break is over Thanksgiving and you’re probably not snapping 10,000 photos unless you’re really into food or something, the seemingly endless task of updating spring break albums can loom over the second half of spring semester. While it may seem like an innocent way to kill time, think of all of the productive things you can be doing while you’re spending hours updating an album named after a Lana Del Rey reference.
4. Avoid the Hill. Similarly to number two on this list, when the weather is nice out during the last week or so of school, you can count on death, taxes and some insane outdoor parties on the Hill. What starts as an innocent walk can spiral into something more when you spot three or four friends from your creative writing class and they beckon you into some mud-infested lawn with kegs, buckets and whatever else you can imagine.
5. Finish strong! You’re so close! We know finals can feel like the end of the world, but in reality they are just a sucky week. Then you’re free for like three months! Plus, won’t it feel a lot better when you can brag to your parents about how you crushed finals, instead of having your mom or grandmother or whatever being passive aggressive about it for the next three months? Yeah, we thought so.