Final Exam Survival Guide

Well, it’s that time of the semester again. Final exams are right around the corner, either this coming week or the one after, depending on where you go to school. So, as we head through these last stress-filled weeks, we offer you with The Voice of (un)Reason’s “Final Exam Survival Guide.” These are the things you’ll want to have around to get you through the week:

A copy of your exam schedule. We’ll start it simple. This is as essential as it gets. Nothing worse than showing up on the wrong day or at the time for your exam. Never good to be stressed out early and kick your body into exam mode four hours before you actually need to be ready to go (yes, I have done this before). Of course, worse yet would be to think you still have more time, when in fact you’ve already missed your exam. So, start by knowing when and where your tests are.

A good night’s sleep. Now that you know when your exams are, get some freakin’ sleep! You’ve been studying and preparing for hours, or days, or even weeks. Eventually, you reach a point where more studying just won’t do any good. Get yourself eight hours of sleep before an exam; you’ll wake up refreshed and thinking clearer. If you still don’t feel prepared, you could always sleep with your textbook and/or notes under your pillow. Maybe the knowledge will seep up into your head while you dream away.

Reliable alarm clock. Now that you’re getting that good night’s sleep for the first time in a while, you certainly don’t want to sleep so deep that you sleep right through your exam. Set your alarm, double and triple check it. Make sure you don’t have your AMs and PMs crossed up, or anything stupid like that. You may want to set two alarms. You also may want to set a watch alarm or a cell phone alarm (make sure your phone isn’t on silent!). Having an alarm like that which isn’t powered by electricity protects you if for some reason the power gets knocked out. If you’re the kind of person who hits the snooze button a couple times, build the time in and set your alarm 10 minutes early.

Batteries. Speaking of alarm clocks, if they’re battery powered, make sure those batteries are healthy and/or charged. Don’t need to miss an exam because your clock or watch dies overnight. If you have any math tests, make sure the batteries in that calculator are ready to go. Along the same lines, know the lifespan on your laptop’s battery. You certainly don’t want to lose all that hard work on a final paper because your battery dies.

Breakfast bars, granola bars, pop tarts. Now that you’re up and awake, you need some carbs to get that brain going. Don’t go into a test on an empty stomach. Eat something, anything. Your brain will function more clearly because of it.

Comfortable clothes. Might as well feel good while you’re taking the biggest test of the semester. If you’ve got lucky t-shirts or anything, now is definitely the time to break them out as well.

Clean Underwear. Don’t lose track of your laundry in all the studying. If what you want to wear isn’t available in your wardrobe when you get ready for the exam, or if you can’t find anything to wear, it’s going to throw your mind off of the task at hand. Throw in the laundry while you’re studying. The time when you need to go back and move it to the dryer or fold it and put it away will give you a much-needed five-minute study break anyway.

Sharpened pencils, working pens. You’d be surprised the things people forget when they’re stressed out from non-stop studying. You don’t want to be that person who’s begging everybody in the class for a writing utensil on exam day. And nothing’s worse than trying to write with a dull pencil.

Water/Gatorade/fluids. Bring something with you to the exam to keep you hydrated. The less circumstances which would make you in any way uncomfortable (dry mouth, parched throat) is less distractions from the test in front of you. Not to mention that being plenty hydrated will keep your brain functioning more sharply anyway.

Creative studying. Do whatever it takes to get that stuff memorized. Make up mnemonic devices (those clever things where each letter stands for something). Put the information into a song. If one piece of information is troubling you, look at it as you walk into the exam room, remember it for just a couple minutes, and write it down somewhere on the test as soon as you get it. I won’t condone cheating, but anything else you can do to give yourself a little edge is fair game.

Unique writing. If your exam is essay format, or if you have a final paper in place of an exam, be unique in your writing. Your professor has to grade who knows how may papers and they certainly don’t want to read the same thing over and over again. If you can find support for it, take a more controversial stand than others are likely to. It will make your essay stand out. Argue that Lincoln was a racist bigot. Argue that Hitler was a genius who had some misdirected brilliance. Argue that Roosevelt’s New Deal wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. You get the point. You don’t necessarily have to believe it, but anytime you can write something that will stand out, it bodes well for your grade (so long as it is adequately backed up with reason and not just your lunatic fringe rantings and ravings).

Friends. Last, but arguably most importantly, you need good friends to make it through finals week. You need people who can read you pretty well. You need your friends to push you and get on your case when you want to give up or are starting to slack off. You need them to help keep you motivated. However, at the same time, you need them to turn around and give you a hug when you’re about to fall apart from the stress. You need someone (or a combination of people) who can read your emotions and push the appropriate buttons to help you through, and then you need to turn around and do the same for your friends.

Feel free to leave a comment and add your own finals tips and tricks. Good luck with all your exams!

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And of course, the random links of the last few days:

Google Doing More than Just Searching the Web – They’ve got all kinds of other software out there, most of it available for free. This article focuses on Google’s word-processing and spreadsheet applications, which allow you to work on your project from any computer with internet access, basically turning the world into your network. Interesting concept, though I can’t say I’m all that inconvenienced currently by using either a flash drive or e-mailing documents to myself for retrieval somewhere else. Google hopes to market the software as beneficial for schools which may be currently lacking in the technology department.

Man Fined for Throwing Pig Over Hotel Desk – A live pig, no less. And apparently, this isn’t the first incident in the community. The hog was not injured by the toss.

Parade Float Driver Hit With DUI – Again, I swear, you can’t make this stuff up.

Fire Does Not Deter Holiday Shoppers – What? Are they serious? THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE! LEAVE! Goodness, I hate people.

Rhode Island Cops Allegedly Cut in Line for PS3s – Wonderful.

What if the BCS Was Involved in Politics – Nice, humorous, off-the-cuff political column.

Fossils Indicate Prehistoric Babies Were Given Burial – This could change some of our views on ancient cultures. Perhaps infanticide wasn’t as widespread as we think. Or, at least, perhaps respect was shown for infants after they passed on.