As we are nearing the end of the semester that means finals week is here. For most these are not a first time occurrence but for others this is a first time thing. Here are a few tips that I have learned from the past year of me taking finals.

Nutrition: If you aren’t staying hydrated you wont be all there and will have a harder time focusing. It is proven that if you try to study or take a test on an empty stomach you won’t preform as well because your mind if focus more on you being hungary than it is on anything else. You want to be feeling your complete best when taking your tests, when you feel good you preform good. 

Ask: Most teachers the week of finals will go over what their final will consist of but you should still talk to your teachers beforehand and ask deeper questions on what concepts or what skill based things will be on their final. By doing this you are preparing yourself and your nerves on what to expect so when you get there you aren’t surprised by whats on your final. This also calms your nerves down so you aren’t freaking out the whole week of finals.

STUDY:  If you want to pass any of your classes you can’t go in without any prep beforehand. Teachers are giving you a study guide for a reason so use it. If you don’t study you are setting yourself up for failure trust me. Even your easiest class that you think you know everything about make sure you look over your study guide because the day of the final you may get in there and have the test laid out in front of you, and bam you blank out and forget everything. At least study for 10 minutes those can 10 minutes can make a great impact overall. 

Rest: Get a good amount of sleep before your test days, I know its tempting to stay up all night preparing for a test and you may thing this is beneficial for you but it isn’t. When your forcing your body to stay awake you aren’t digesting the knowledge you are trying to put into your brain because your brain is exhausted, so go to sleep. Performance is better when the person is well rested so get that sleep.

Lastly don’t be scared: The word finals can be intimidating but they aren’t the end of the world. These are just to show your teachers what you know and what they need to work on so you get the best education possible for you. Pass or Fail don’t let this define you as a student and take this as a learning experience for next semesters finals.