No Stress

Students Try to Clear Their Heads of School-Induced Anxiety

May 16, 2014

It’s no secret finals are the most stressful time of the school year. Thankfully, there are ways to get through finals unscathed.

According to freshmen guidance counselor Kerri O’Connor, keeping organized is an important key to succeeding.

“Organize your info by class day; all red day stuff is in one binder, color coordinate everything to that color. Using binder separators for each subject and making sure you use an agenda will help,” O’Connor said.

Junior Willa Lin likes to keep an agenda of assignments to, “Keep on top of things.”

“I like to write a list of things I have to get done and then plan when to do them,” Lin said.

“If you’re spending three hours getting ready for a test and you have social media opened, or just looking at notes and not having a system set up, that’s a waste of the time you could be using towards something else,” study skills teacher Muggsie Marini said.

Starting to study for your test a few weeks in advance is yet another tool to help you. Reviewing the material a week prior to the test will reduce your stress when it gets down the night before you have to take it.

Lin advises to start studying ahead of time, so when it’s the week before finals you won’t have to cram.

“Get organized for studying now, study a little bit each night, don’t wait until last minute. Review things from earlier in the semester,” O’Connor said.

“It’s much better to know when the test is and study in advance and learn the material in chunks than spend a big amount of time the night before on stuff you’re easily going to forget,” Marini said.

“It all depends on how much you know. If you know a lot, you can start less far in advance. And if you’re concerned about some of it, you will need more time to prepare.”

But the most important thing? Relax.

“Get enough sleep. Breath. Go to study sessions and groups, and spend as much time with teachers as possible can help relieve stress because you will feel prepared,” O’Connor said.

“The most important thing is not getting a good grade on this test. The most important this is to make sure you have that information, so when you get to college or a job and you need to access that information, it’s there,” Marini said.