Beads of perspiration are slowly forming on your forehead, the same place you’re considering slapping with your biology textbook. You’ve already drank 17 cups of stale Mountain Dew. It is 3 a.m. and the gods have decided your most important exam begins at 8 a.m. after a night when sleep stood you up. There, an accurate definition of the trauma of Finals week has been established. Now we can move on.

All this lasts until we get that mail that promises to place puppies and pancakes in the same area the night before finals, and that makes a slight dent in the alarmingly large ball of stress you’ve built. But there are ways, common as well as innovative, to help make the pit of tension less threatening. Pulp asked SU students what they do this dreaded week, and here’s what we got:

1. Take breaks

Try not to pull an all-nighter that lasts 43 hours. Zoey Woldman, a junior writing major, and her friends take dance breaks between study. But if you don’t want to sprain your ankle, a Snickers bar works too.

2. Segment your study hours

Break up that large block of time into equal segments, like how the ideal Ramen packet would be broken down. Martina Morris, a freshman biology major, finds that this practice makes perfect.

3. Food > a lot of things:

Elijah Goodell, a freshman Television, Radio, Film major, has got the right end of things. As freshmen, we still have a week of freshman-15 to accomplish, and we’re all winners.

4. Hang up inspiration

Tania Leyva, a graduate student in the Spanish language literature and culture program, will be writing her last finals. She has hung up a cape where she can always look at it, giving her the strength of Superman to pull through this week.

5. Study with friends

The success of group study is questionable, but somehow facts work differently in college. Rachel Brenner, a junior public relations major, says that it is easier to study where there are people to calm you down and help you in case an essay is giving you hallucinations.

6. Free donuts

Zachary Sciuto, a senior communications and rhetorical studies major, stays on the bright side of things. If there are no classes, there is now more time to enjoy the free donuts at Goldstein and Schine Student Centers.

7. Make a study game

If you’re studying in a group, this is a good way to liven things up. There are memory games, flashcard games and other things you thought you left in your childhood that Samantha Mindich, a freshman Psychology major, recommends. Make it even more rewarding by designating prizes, like a snack, along the way.

8. Eat a balanced breakfast

Ben & Jerry’s and the freshman 15 sound fantastic in the night. But come morning, Lauren Grubb, a sophomore Advertising major, thinks it is a better idea to get some good fruit, yogurt, cereal and whatever else tips the scales in your favor.

9. Stay off social media

Griffin Brooks, an undeclared freshman in Whitman, has cracked a code to bring down your meme addiction during finals week. Google chrome extension Forest and apps like Self-Control do what you can’t do and what your grandparents are very capable of doing: blocking and preventing access to online media.

10. That post-finals feeling

Aaron Mevorah, a sophomore Communications and Rhetorical Studies major, says to hold the thought of walking out of your final final close to your heart and within easy reach at all times.

As is evident, food is a uniting factor that brings not just calories, but the best out of everyone. So make sure you eat up, get emergency contacts of professors, and show your best efforts to get those ABCs squared away.

Published on May 1, 2016 at 2:42 pm