I’m a fourth year senior now, so I like to think that I know what to expect out during finals week. Winter has pretty much set in here in Athens, as it has in most college towns across the country. For UGA students, that typically means that the weather mimics the somber mood. The sky is overcast and gray, rain drizzles lazily through the fog. When I’m on campus during finals week, you can tell that most students are stressed out just by looking at their faces. We aren’t particularly jolly at this time, but there are always rays of happiness- that one student who just finished his last final, or turned in his last paper. They’re always smiling, and if you haven’t experienced that feeling yet, you will, and it will be glorious. There isn’t a feeling quite like finishing up a semester of college. When you turn in your last final, sheer relief washes over you with a force of a thousand linebackers. You can’t help but to smile. I like to compare it to a mini-graduation each time. By that point in the semester, I usually don’t even care what my grade turns out to be; as long as I passed, I just want out, out, out! For those of you experiencing finals week for the first time, keep going and just get it done. The end is quickly approaching, and you will be so much happier and stronger for finishing the drill than you will be if you just give in now. For you high school seniors that are wondering what finals week will be like, if you will make it through, just remember this: Finals week isn’t really about being smart, or lucky, or the world’s most proactive person. You are going to panic, you are going to hate your life and scream at the heavens, “Why?! Why would I do this to myself?!” Truly, finals week is just about being disciplined enough to do what you’re supposed to be doing for that one week- only one week. Take care of you mind, body, and spirit, and stay disciplined, and finals week ends before you know it.
