Story by Joyce Serut
With the sound of footsteps of students rushing to pass requirements, the sight of crowds flocking in libraries and study areas, and the strong smell of coffee in the air, it is evident that finals week has come. The final days of the semester are sure to bring struggles to many, and every student tries to be as ready as possible to face the academic storm lying ahead.
Let’s admit it: not everyone can handle finals week gracefully. It is called “hell week”, and for a reason. As the temperature rises, the pressure to finish the semester well does too. With a lot of deadlines piling up, the all-nighters become constant and the weariness never seems to go away.
But as the devils of “hell week” work hard, the students work even harder, with each person devising their own way to cope with arguably the most stressful time of the academic year.
Preparation: Planning, prioritizing, and mental conditioning
As with most things, many students say that they start their finals week with preparations. One part of which is creating plans. This usually involves making a list of tasks and devising schedules and routines in order to systematically accomplish them.
Carleen Almira, a student of medicine from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERM), shares that writing things down helps her maintain a studying pace.
“I keep a planner. So that’s where I list down my things-to-do and what time I have to do them, so that I would be pressured to finish them, since I get a picture of what time I am supposed to finish and what I won’t be able to study if I slack off.”
Planning tasks also involves arranging and prioritizing them. Students usually devise criteria on which they would base the order of accomplishing things. Factors such as urgency, difficulty, and degree of importance of tasks are usually taken into consideration.
Jeric Garrido, a graduate student and junior faculty from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman National Institute of Physics, says that his priorities all boil down to two questions.
“I prioritize tasks depending on the following questions: Do I need to do it immediately and do I want to do it immediately? The first question is about the necessity to do the task. Especially if it is required, I will do it. I also check whether I will gain much in doing such task. The second question is about my desire to do something. I excel doing things when I am excited doing such task. If I think I can learn something interesting, and my efforts are not wasted, I will be more eager to do such task.”
Beyond the tedious activities of planning and prioritizing things, proper self-conditioning—whether mental or physical—is equally necessary to prepare one’s self properly for a grueling finals week ahead. Gwy Lozada, a communication research major from the College of Mass Communication (CMC) in UP Diliman, shares that she reminds herself of her deadlines in order to make herself ready and less anxious in facing them.
“The ideal [situation] is to plan weeks ahead but I mentally ready myself a week before an exam or deliverable (requirement) by reminding myself that on that certain day, I have an exam, report or paper due. This helps me lessen my anxiety towards it.”
If a student still has a plenty amount of time, another way to condition one’s self for work is to set a good mood through one’s habits and surroundings. Rainne Setias, also a communication research major, starts her daily grind by doing feel-good activities that keep her motivated.
“I motivate myself by drinking a good cup of coffee and taking my time preparing for the day ahead. I would listen to a good song, have a YouTube video playing in the background, or put on my [favorite] episode of [the television series] Friends on replay while I prepare.”
Production: Getting the job done
Once the planning and preparation are over, the actual accomplishment of tasks comes next. Of course, the hard work can only be sustained with enough inspiration and strength. Otherwise, one would easily be tired and give up on the things needed to be done.
Students are sometimes driven to do their deadlines out of fear. In the course of finishing their requirements, they remind themselves of the consequences they might face if they do not finish what they need to do. Graduate student and instructor Garrido explains, “I know it will be at my disadvantage if I don't do the tasks I am assigned to. By not doing such tasks, I might become a burden to others, or it might affect my performance which is detrimental to me.”
But many also cling to positivity. They are inspired by their hopes and dreams, and their loved ones to keep fighting and surviving.
Ryan Paguirigan, a graduate student from the UP Diliman Population Institute, shares that reiterating his purpose and reason for studying keeps his drive. “I ask myself why and [for] whom I am doing this. I make it clear to myself that finishing a task is one small step towards achieving my goal.”
Amina Kunting, a biology major from the UP Diliman Institute of Biology, adds that seeing tangible representations of her goals keeps her inspired. “Recently, to motivate myself, I look at my graduation pictures and my sablay (official UP costume worn during graduation ceremonies). I also pass by the sunflowers in front of Oble (Oblation, an iconic symbol of UP)."
A dose of inspiration is good, but it is not enough to fuel one’s self into finishing their tasks. Academic requirements require energy and effort. Students still need to invest on their physical and mental health to finish the finals week strong.
Finals week is usually crunch time; people barely have time to handle anything other than their academic work. However, students have to remember that eating and sleeping are physical needs that keep one’s body alive and well.
“Taking breaks and having enough rest are essential to keep one’s self productive. It’s hard to answer exams when you are sleepy or fueled by coffee alone. As much as possible, I sleep or take a nap. It feels much better than merely relying on coffee,” says medical student Almira.
She adds that talking to other people in order to share one’s burdens also helps in alleviating the pressure that one can feel during finals week.
“I talk to my classmates just to check if they’re studying, because it helps when you know that other people are sharing the same struggle. I also talk to my more stellar classmates so that I would be inspired to make an effort. I talk, cry, and rant to my loved ones. It’s good to take the pressure of your chest,” Almira shares.
Post-evaluation: Examining the students’ finals week routine
Charity Orense, guidance services specialist of the Office of Counseling and Guidance (OCG) of the UP Diliman, emphasizes that although these ways to cope seem to get the job done, a healthier way to handle one’s academic life is to start preparing and building good habits at the beginning of the semester, not waiting for the eleventh hour before rescuing one’s academic standing.
“What usually happens is that we only start exhausting our time and energy during the finals week. If we build these efforts from the start of the semester, then we have more leeway to slack off towards the end.”
Orense suggests that students could instead try to “deposit” as much effort and excel in as much subjects as they can in the beginning of the semester. Eventually, they could allocate less time and effort for the subjects they excel in and use that to manage the ones they find difficult instead.
Tetchie Mendoza, also a guidance services specialist of the UP Diliman OCG, agreed with the concept of “depositing” effort, and even shared that she learned this the hard way when she was still a student.
“I was a crammer, too, back when I was still an undergraduate student. But as time goes by, I realized that my energy can only sustain the crammer lifestyle for so long. I can’t keep cramming always because it would only be detrimental for me. I learned bit by bit that I had to invest and deposit my effort.”
This strategy helps in breaking down the effort needed for finals week and spreads it throughout the whole semester. Orense says that it would be more stressful to handle things as a whole, so it might be better to break down the semester and the tasks into smaller points and goals.
“I try to do it (tasks) beat by beat. For example, if I have a major project, I will break it down into smaller steps. For me, it works well, because if I would think of my tasks in their totality, I would only panic. I break it down into smaller homeworks and projects.”
Mendoza also said that by piling the workload at the end of the semester, students are only making their own lives more difficult. Starting early would ease the burden.
“The students themselves create their own source of pressure. It would be our fault if we pile up all the workload and only make an effort in the end. If we learn to invest effort at the beginning instead, then we won’t have to cram everything and we’d feel less pressure. It would be hard for us to know the key to handling pressure if we still habitually cram in every semester, even though we know that it’s not really good for us.”
Orense and Mendoza also note that in handling one’s academic life, it is important to know one’s self. Students all have different struggles, strengths, and strategies; knowing one’s self would aid someone in creating a finals week routine that would work for them.
Assessing one’s physical and intellectual abilities help. Finding out one’s most productive hours, academic strengths, studying preferences, and other habits could help one craft a better plan or schedule, noting what to focus on and what to avoid.
Moreover, knowing one’s self would also help in finding out their ultimate purpose, which could be the students’ drive to accomplish their academic requirements and survive finals week.
Self-introspection, as well as counseling services like that of OCG, can help students know or give them an idea of what their goals are. Mendoza elaborates, “After a few sessions, we could help clear their perspective. If not, then at least, hopefully, we could help them think of what really matters to them, which eventually would lead to them knowing what their ultimate motivation is.”
Orense adds, “It’s easier to carry yourself to the finish line when you have your end goal in mind.”
Lastly, whatever happens during and after finals week, Orense and Mendoza remind the students not to be too hard on themselves, because the struggles will eventually be over and they can definitely be overcome.
“The people from the younger generation are allegedly harder on themselves. For many of the students I talk to, failing and not accomplishing things has a huge impact. But as Ricky Lee said in his recent graduation speech, we’re not perfect. We learn and grow from struggles. No one grows on smooth sailing,” says Mendoza.
Orense also reassures students, “It’s just a “hell week”, not a “hell life”. You’re just going to pass through this, and soon, it will be over. This is temporary. After a week or a month, you will get through this, and it’s getting you closer to your dream.”
Finals week might seem insurmountable, but this, too, shall pass—and so shall you.
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