COLUMN: How to survive Dead Week
Dead Week – bodies strewn across library tables, books and papers wilt with sudden overuse. Arguably the most dreaded week of the semester, apart from Finals Week, Dead Week consists of late-night study sessions, excessive amounts of caffeine, stress and regret that more time and attention weren’t spent earlier in the semester. It’s a time for cramming and jamming every possible bit of information into your brain.
I hate Dead Week. I don’t handle stress very well, so Dead Week becomes a dark and frustrating hell of my mind. No matter what you’re studying, there are certain study tools that have proven to be effective.
–Find your happy place. Don’t study somewhere distracting. It may be nice to study out in the open, around all your friends and everything, but it may not help you learn. I need a certain amount of constant white noise when I study, so my usual perch ends up in the Quadside Cafe at the northwest, curved couch. If you need complete silence, try the third floor of the library or the TSC. Both have tons of chairs and tables and are generally pretty quiet.
– Take breaks. Having an eight-hour study session might sound impressive, but you will learn more if you break it up and give yourself time to absorb the information. Try studying for an hour then walk around, eat an apple or answer a text.
– Use a mix of notes, oral repetition, flashcards, everything. Mixing up the media of study will create more opportunities for your brain to latch on to the material. Your mind learns through visual, auditory and kinesthetic, or by touch. Utilize all these and your brain will have a greater number of ways to remember things.
– Have a list. Write down what you need to do, what you need to study and how you can still have fun doing it. This way, you won’t have to remember your task list on top of studying for all your classes.
– Prioritize. Don’t waste time studying for the class you already have an A in. Focus on the hardest class or the one with the lowest grade. I stress about the class that I don’t think I’ll pass, not the one I can skip the final and still get a good grade. Putting more energy into the more stressful class will ease your tension and make you feel more secure.
– Meet with professors. They have office hours for a reason, plus they’re writing the final. They can help you with anything you don’t understand and tell you what you need to pass the class. Though it may be hard to believe, they are people, too, and they have been in the same position we are now.
– Relax. In the end, the worst thing that could happen is that you’ll have to retake a class. It’s not that big a deal. Acing your final isn’t worth a mental break down. Have some fun at least once a day. It’ll all pass and then you’ll have summer to detox from school.
Kasey Van Dyke is a sophomore in print journalism and political science. Questions or comments can be left for her at aggietownsquare.com.