Making it through Midterms: A 3-Step Survival Guide
After two years of back-to-back-to-back midterms in the spring semester, you can say I know a thing or two about what it takes to make it through midterm week and stay sane while doing it:
1) Chug that caffeine
This may seem like the obvious solution, but coffee wasn’t always my go-to. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Oprah Chai, but it’s not like I need the stuff to survive. (Un)fortunately, that changed this midterms season. In the week before midterms, I holed up in some of the best coffee spots in town (my picks: Barista Parlor, Bond Coffee Company and Crema) to really buckle down. Aside from getting a break from secondhand stress by heading off-campus, these spots were stocked with endless sweet treats and sweeter lattes that did wonders for slogging it out through three back to back exams.
2) Set your alarm early
When it comes to changing yourself, advice to go for it and follow through is generally considered the worst possible advice in the world. But this midterms season, I changed a few things about myself to mild success! I’m not a morning person by any means, but midterms week truly made me a believer. Waking up early was great because Netflix, Spotify and internet distractions don’t seem nearly as attractive at 7 am as they do at 2 am. It actually wasn’t even hard to do because I would call it a night pretty early to do it over again.
3) Let them see you sweat
When midterms are over you will be utterly exhausted — there’s just no way around it — but you don’t have to feel sick and sluggish on top of it. All those late nights and study snacks can get you feeling that way fast, but taking a break to sweat it out can make all of the difference. I like to exercise, generally (well, as much as anyone *likes* to exercise), but blowing off steam by running and starting study days with yoga were such welcome brain breaks. Bonus: they always feel more productive than Netflix.