Finals week is right around the corner: here’s a list of things to do from faculty and students

Finals week is right around the corner, and assignments and papers are racking up. The pressure and the stress can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially as a first-year student, but even as a junior or senior, finals week can be very demanding. 

Here are two lists of things to do for finals curated by both staff and upperclassmen.

Sophia Petrucci, TRIO SSS Academic Coordinator, who has a master’s degree in psychology, offers her own list of 13 things you can strive to do during and before finals week to ensure a steady mindset and good mental health. 

1. Change location frequently: set a timer and study for an hour, then move location and repeat.

Petrucci: If it were me, I would start at the library, set a timer for an hour, and study for an hour straight. When that alarm goes off, then get up and move somewhere else. Whether that’s to your room. Although I don’t advise studying in your room, if that’s where you wanna study, that’s great. Or go outside or something. So, one, you’re moving your location to stay mentally active, but also you’re taking a break and walking around.

2. Keep working out during finals week.

Petrucci: Maybe you could shorten it, but get some sort of physical activity, whether it’s lifting, running, or walking outside.

3. Always take a break.

Petrucci: It’s not possible to study 24 hours straight. 

4. Plan out your study time. 

Petrucci: I knew that studying the night before didn’t work for me, so I always studied a week before finals. If I had a final on Monday, the 27th,  in Psych 102, I would start studying on Monday the week before. And then if I had one on Tuesday that was for developmental psych, then I’d start that Tuesday with that one and review the other stuff. So it was like a whole cycle. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but you try.

5. Studying with someone and repeating your notes out loud. 

Petrucci: This was something that we did in a psych class. If you eat mint gum or have Life Savers, it will wake up your taste buds and wake up your brain. So if you start to feel tired, having something minty can help. And when you take your test, chew the same gum or the same mints that you took during your test, because then it triggers your brain to memorize it more. 

Petrucci: That’s a little psych hack for you.

6. Always have brain food.

Petrucci: such as nuts, fruits, and carbs. I don’t advise energy drinks because there’s that high and that crash.

7. Find the time to have fun. 

Petrucci: Like, okay, we studied for five hours. Let’s go out to dinner. It’s okay to take an hour break.

8. Remember: your anxiety around the test is actually gonna make your test scores worse.

Petrucci: I remember being really stressed about my first time taking finals. And I did good but I had had all this anxiety and this mental energy going towards that rather than going towards studying.

9. Playing around with different study methods and finding the one that works for you.

Petrucci: Flashcards might not be your thing or writing things down, but going through the semester, trying different things, seeing what works for you, and then applying it during finals week will make you have less anxiety because it’s already a tried and tested system that works.

10. Finding the best times to study. 

Petrucci: If you look at the Pitt-Greensburg TRIO SSS canvas page, we have a worksheet for finding the best times to study that work for you. So, there’s a high-energy task and a low-energy task. If you’re a morning person, do your high-energy task in the morning when you’re up, and do your low-energy task later. And if you’re an afternoon person, do light studying in the morning, hit it hard in the afternoon.

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11. Using the tools you have access to, such as AI. 

Petrucci: For example, putting your PowerPoints into AI and saying, ‘Create exam questions for me,’ and then taking the exam and seeing how you do. That’s always a great thing to do. You gotta take advantage of the tools that you have. And if you know the teacher is gonna do open-ended ones, then say open-ended questions, or if you know they’re gonna do multiple choice, then say multiple choice. It kinda helps you think like the teacher is thinking. I always tell my boyfriend to do this, and he never does it.

12. Get rid of your distractions. 

Petrucci: Don’t scroll on Instagram and TikTok. I don’t think I really need to say that. We can say it and say it and say it, but you’re the one who has to do it. So it’s ultimately something that you have to do, but at least try.

Anna Flatley is 25 years old and an anthropology major. As an upperclassman, she has gone through finals a couple of times and has a set list of 7 things she tries to do every finals week to make it feel less overwhelming.

1. Stay creative, have coloring books available 

Flatley: I like to stay creative. Like, I have a lot of easy, simple creative stuff. So, I have coloring books that I like. If I’m overwhelmed, I’ll color in a coloring book. I also have a mini watercolor thing that I just got at a dollar store that I’ll use.

2. I’ll talk to friends or family on the phone.

Flatley: A lot of my friends live out of town. So I try to stay connected and call them. 

3. Going for a walk.

Flatley: I go on walks around here a lot. When I’m bored or something, I’ll be like, “I’m just gonna leave my stuff where it is,” and I do basically a full loop around campus. I’ll be gone for like 20 minutes.

4. Listening to music. 

Flatley: I’ll listen to music that I enjoy, that’s more upbeat, and I’m like, “Okay, time to study.” 

5. Eating well and drinking a lot of water. 

Flatley: I make sure to eat well and drink a lot of water. I have my massive water bottle. It’s low-key, way too big. And I’ll make sure to fill that up throughout the day.

6. Bring snacks to school.

7. Be confident and have some self-trust. 

Flatley: I kinda just trust that I know what I’m doing. Or, you know, be confident, have some self-trust. I’ve gone to my classes, I’ve done some of my work, and I can do this.