Hi everyone!

It’s so hard to believe that I’m already done with my first semester of college! With the first semester wrapping up, I also experienced my first finals week and dead week of college. Dead week is what we call the week before finals start. If I’m being honest, I thought dead week was worse than finals week. I dislike exams (who doesn’t) so I was pretty stressed out during this period of the semester. Something that I didn’t know before coming to college was that dead week is the last week of class, so it was nice to not have to worry about classes during finals. Luckily, I only had to take one final exam this semester. Instead, I had a ton of projects and essays to finish. The way I stayed motivated through the last two weeks of the semester was rooted in staying active and staying out of the dorm as much as possible. I made an effort to get to the gym, even if it was just a long walk on the treadmill. I focused on studying in places that were not my room. I spent a lot of time at Java House, Encounter Cafe, the Burge Hall basement, and Tippie College of Business. Pacing my studying and starting on all of my projects/essays/studying early was a game changer. I started studying over two weeks in advance for my huge cumulative final, and it really paid off! I am thankful for only having one final for my first semester of college.

I hope everyone had a great finals season, and is ready for a long winter break!