How do you feel about finals week?

I guess it depends on your major and the classes you’re taking. Last year I remember drinking like four venti iced coffees every night just to stay alive and get everything done that I needed to do. This semester I feel a lot more relaxed, like I’m not staying up every night. It’s just time management, which I’m pretty bad at.

Would you say you’ve gotten better at it from last year?

Yeah, for sure. Like I know how to not kill myself every night staying up.

Is this semester easier because of your time management skills or because of the classes you’re taking?

I think both, because I’m taking more classes that are geared towards my major and more enjoyable for me instead of pre-reqs and stuff that I hate. Just because I don’t hate doing the work as much makes it less miserable.

How do you feel about finals week?

Brianna Balch: I think the hype is more than it really is because I only have one final too. It is cumulative, so it is a little bit tougher than just a regular final. But other than that I think they hype it up too much, because I only have one and I’m in five classes.  

Britany Balch: I only have one final, so it doesn’t feel like a finals week where I have five finals or something like that. It’s just the end of the semester stress with grades and everything.

Tate: I think that finals week is a little overhyped because, you know, not everybody has that amount of classes. But there are people who do have either a lot of finals or it’s papers and finals and final projects, and it’s all due at the same time. And like me, I work outside of school, and I work a lot. It’s hard to stay organized and focus on what needs to get done and not freak out because you have all this stuff to do.

Do you think the library doing all that it’s doing is a good thing?

Brianna Balch: Yeah. I think it’s a good thing that they’re helping students with the puppies and the therapy and all of that. But at the same time, I wouldn’t use it to my advantage.

Tate: Puppies are awesome.

Lagunovich: I think it’s good because there are so many different majors. Like I know for my major, most of my finals are papers. So I just have to make sure everything gets in on time and that’s my biggest stress: getting all my papers and everything in a row. But I know there’s certain majors with more finals [that are] more cumulative and more stress. So I think the library being open and all of the advantages [from that] and everything that they’re doing for everyone is a good thing.

Do you think the hype on the internet makes it worse on people?

All: Oh yeah, definitely.

Tate: It causes more anxiety. You’re in your mind expecting it to be bad so you’re like, “Oh crap,” and all of these things are happening, but you find out it’s really not as bad. A then you’re like, “I got all worked up for nothing.”

How do you feel about finals week?

Hancock: I think your first year, there’s a lot of hype and there really isn’t much. But I think it definitely deserves the hype in the latter years.

Pekusic: It depends on how many classes you have. If you have like one class, it’s not going to be as intense as someone who has like five classes like we do right now. We have three finals in one day.

Hancock: Three finals in one day. So that’s a lot of hype, and I think it deserves it.

Are you worried?

Hancock: I work the day before, so I’m a little worried that I won’t get much sleep and that I’ll have to drink a lot of caffeine. So yeah, a little worried.

Are you worried about the material or just the day?

Hancock: I just think it’s an awful day. It’s going to be a horrendous time.

Pekusic: Yeah, as long as you study you’ll be prepared. I feel prepared. I’m literally on campus from 8 a.m. to midnight Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday either studying or in the library.

Hancock: He’s not kidding. That’s a fact.

How do you feel about finals week?

Farara: I’m not too worried, I don’t think it’s too bad.

Shiver: I think a lot of professors and people put a lot of stress on finals week, more than they probably should. I’m personally very nervous about finals week. I have a lot of papers, and exams and presentations.

How do you feel about finals week in graduate school versus undergrad?

Farara: They give you more time. Usually it’s a bigger project. But they give you more time to do it, so it’s not that bad. There’s written exams on like four or five chapters, but they’ll cover it. It’s mostly more material.

Do you think it’s good that the library offers the help that it does?

Farara: I think they offer a good amount of services. I like the 24 hours that they do every year. I think it’s really helpful, especially depending on your work situation. You can always come in at 3 a.m. to study.

Shiver: I love the services it provides. They’re very very helpful, especially when the library is open all the time. That’s the most helpful thing ever.

How do you feel about finals week?

Hernandez: I guess it depends on what class you’re getting ready for, but I guess it does get hyped up for people who are like upperclassmen when their majors are crazy stuff like micro bio. and stuff like that. Then you can be scared. But for me, I’m not. I have a bunch of gen. ed. courses.

Stout: Same. I have a bunch of gen. ed. courses that’s just a bunch of final tests.

So you don’t have any like cumulative tests?

Hernandez: I mean I have one, but it’s math. And when it’s something like math, that’s scary to me. I’ll give that exception.

Maba: I think it’s hyped up for everyone who has an easy major or is taking easy classes. But for those who are taking harder majors, the hype is real.

What are your thoughts on the extra services the library provides during finals week?

Stout: Like I don’t have a lot stuff to be stressed out about right now, but everyone is like freaking out and I’m like, “Oh gosh, should I be worrying?” But I’m pretty good right now where I’m standing, so I just have to remind myself.

How do you feel about finals week?

Rade: We’re ready for speaking and listening, but the reading and writing, we are never [ready].

Do you think people are more or less stressed out than they should be?

Rade: They are as stressed as they should be. In my class all of the students are Arabic. If I speak English, they all ask why I’m speaking it, “You’re from Saudi Arabia.” It is a big problem.

Ammar: We’re in the same class, and everyone speaks Arabic. And now the teacher speaks Arabic!

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