Well fellow Hoosiers it is almost that time of the year. No I am not talking about Christmas, although that is coming up here soon. It’s almost finals time! For those returning Hoosiers that means late nights, countless dollars spent in coffee and Red Bull, and for some hours praying in Beck Chapel that they are able to make the grade this time around. It is very important for our new class of Hoosiers to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and finish strong. Finals my freshmen year were horrible because I had nobody to guide me in the right direction, well never fear I’ll gladly share with you my top three pitfalls so they can clearly be avoided.
1. Ignoring the supports you have around you. 2. “It can wait till tomorrow” syndrome 3. Energizer Bunny Syndrome Ignoring the Supports You have Around YouHow many of you struggle with writing? Math? Or maybe just need a little guidance on the anatomy of the human body. Well IU has all of the academic supports that you need to become successful, you just have to use them. For two years prior to this one, for some reason I avoided the academic support centers and writing tutorial services with a passion. BIGGEST MISTAKE I EVER MADE! The best part about the centers is there is one in every neighborhood, and in regards to WTS or Writing Tutorial Services there is even what I call the central office in the first floor of Wells Library.
Papers have never been my strong suit and this year almost all of my final exam grades are papers. So WTS has become my new best friend. You may be thinking to yourself that “my professor says I can receive no aid on this assignment” Well have I got some good news for you, there is still time to go in and have them look at papers that may not be the final exam that you have due before finals week. The best part about doing that is they can point out patterns they see in your writing that you can work on to improve for the final exam. Here is another glowing review of WTS and the support that they can provide you "Writing Tutorial Services"
"It Can Wait Till Tomorrow" SyndromeI know many of us out there have our shows that we are totally obsessed with. Well here is a little wake up call that came late in the college career for me. The shows won’t put themselves on pause just because its finals week. I know, I know its really important that you see the next episode of “American Horror Story” or “The Walking Dead” however those can wait. Putting your studies on hold is one of the most detrimental things you can do during finals week. I call this the “it can wait till tomorrow” syndrome aka procrastination. By putting trivial things ahead of maintaining a healthy study schedule well not only negatively affect how you perform on you finals, it also is the major leading cause of “Energizer Bunny” Syndrome. My second year at IU I had this bad since I was just introduced to “The Walking Dead” on AMC.
Energizer Bunny SyndromeI know that this pitfall is the worst of all of them! Energizer Bunny syndrome is something that I alluded to in my opening paragraph. Number one piece of advice! During finals week you can’t just keep going and going. You need to stop and take care of yourself, caffeine is NOT always the correct answer. If you just keep going and going you will wear your body down and make yourself sick. So as we approach this time of finals please be careful!
MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR! HAPPY HUNGER, I MEAN FINALS WEEK