I am fortunate this semester–very fortunate–because I only have two finals and an ID paper. Now, that doesn’t mean that I have no stress at the end of the semester; it only means that I have much less than a lot of people I know.
Granted, that hard final was hard. However, since it was last Tuesday (read my last post to see how I dealt with studying for it), the worst is over. For a few days, I was stressed out, and for the two days before the exam in particular, I felt overwhelmed because I was cramming. After I took that exam, had my last day of ID, and my final theater performance, I felt like I had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I did still have a class on Wednesday, but it was pretty much just the second half of a lecture in Cognitive Psych at CMC, so it wasn’t stressful at all.
I do still have my ID paper to work on, and it is stressing me out a bit because I do keep putting it off and because I still don’t have a solid framework for the paper, but I’m sure that after a couple more thought-provoking trips to Starbucks and the Coffee Bean, I’ll have more of an idea of what I’m doing it on. What I’m really trying to work on, though, is accepting that I’m just going to take the day for myself and not worry about the paper. It is technically procrastinating, I guess, since I’m putting the paper off, but it’s better to set aside a designated day to work on it (and stick with it!) and to not feel guilty during all the days in which I’m not working on it than to feel guilty while constantly putting it off. And with that, I let go of all (or most) of the stress that this final paper is causing me.
As for that final Cog Psych exam next Thursday, I’m not worrying about it. I know that it’s going to be like any other test we’ve had this semester, except twice as long, so it’s not anything unfamiliar. It is cumulative, but knowing how much each chapter is going to be weighted definitely helps with the studying. Vigorous notes taken throughout the semester also help with the studying.
So what am I going to do during the free days that I have left? Start Winter Vacation early! I’ll go to as many study breaks as I can, finally catch up on some TV shows that I’ve been meaning to watch for a while, go to the movies, hang out with whoever isn’t busy with work, sleep, and just relax. I have the opportunity to take a deep breath of the cool, dry air before I get back to the warm humidity of Miami, so I’m going to take it.