The Essential Finals Handbook

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. Your alarm goes off at 3 AM on the morning before finals – time to study some more. You open your eyes and stare into the darkness. Just a few minutes pass before the full anxiety of the coming test day hits you. Your midnight studying will only be worth it if exams go well, though after all, this is 11% of your class grade. So what can you do to prepare?

Start early.

A wise second grade teacher once told me to never start studying for a test the night before. I am unsure if I have ever actually taken that advice, but it sounds like it could be helpful. Finals are the biggest tests of the year, so you should probably start studying a few weeks before, at least.

Make a plan.

Most of your finals may cover an entire year of class material, and it is impossible to perfectly remember every unit. You can sit down with your teacher or your old papers and map out all of the things that will be on the final, then star the subjects that seem the most unfamiliar or the hardest. Next, plan out when and how you will tackle each hard topic. You choose how to do it – by specific class, by subtopic, by order in the year.

Gather your supplies.

Your first step after figuring out what you need to study is to gather supplies so that you can work in one place with everything you need close at hand. Naturally, you will need paper, pencils, textbooks, and old tests and worksheets. Your most important supply, though, is LOTS of comfort food, like peanut butter, Nutella, chocolate, etc. Finals week is a very stressful time, and the easiest way to get through it without losing your sanity is through a series of carefully chosen, high-calorie foods that will keep your energy high.

Organize and pick a good workspace.

Once you have gathered supplies, it is important to organize. You want to have a clean, quiet, and comfortable workspace where you can find all your papers easily and spend long hours studying in peace.  This space could be a room in your house or maybe the local library.

Get help from the experts.

While you are studying, you will probably get stuck working on some problem or understanding an old concept. Who should you ask? Use your RAMs and precious frees to your advantage to work with your teachers. If one of your friends, parents, or siblings is really good at a subject that is difficult for you, bring your problems to them and get some free tutoring. And of course, there are plenty of online resources if you are truly desperate.

Have fun!

What are finals weeks for if not a good time? Having a “study party” with friends could make the work more bearable, understandable, and perhaps even fun.