Dearest Mother, I am sending this letter to you as I prepare for the inevitable. I am going to fail my finals. After I fail my finals I will likely fail out of college. At which point I will never get a job and will be forced to move into a box on the side of Speedway. All my love.
Finals have ever so sneakily crept up on me this year. And as I stare at my seemingly never-ending to-do list, I am just about ready to throw in the towel.
I am quite positive that this happens every year. And every year we all look at each other completely baffled that it’s that time again.
Why do we stress? Why do we spend so much time devoted to stressing out, when we could use it to finish all of the 1 million things we have to do before we can check out for the summer?
There has to be a better approach to this finals hoo-ha. So I conducted a little research to see what I could come up with to make finals week go a little smoother … and hopefully keep from giving our mothers a heart attack.
UA finals survival guide:
Drink healthy fruity cocktails: According to a recent study at Kasetsart University in Thailand and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, fruity cocktails may actually be good for you. People, I don’t make these things up.
Ethanol, the alcohol in vodka, rum and tequila, “”boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries,”” according to an article on CNN.com.
Eating the right foods can help fuel student’s brains during final exams. And now the health benefits of fruits may be enhanced by a little splash of alcohol. By little, I mean one drink, not a daiquiri pong tournament with a full bracket.
Having good study snacks is important, but whether or not you choose to utilize this new health food is up to you.
“”Go to bed””: You’ve been staring at your books for hours, checked your e-mail, stared some more, checked your e-mail again and turned the page. Repeat.
At some point, sleep is the only option. Cramming the night before only creates exhausted zombie students who retain absolutely nothing.
According to the Campus Health Student Quality of Sleep Project, getting a good amount of sleep can help students in a number of ways.
“”Getting enough sleep each night improves ability to manage stress … sharpens concentration and memory for studying and enhances overall physical and emotional health,”” according to the Campus Health “”Go to bed”” poster.
For students, adequate sleep is hardly an option. We go to bed too late and have to get up too early. But the biggest problem is that most students’ sleep habits vary from night to night, especially during finals week and the horrendous weeks leading up to it.
“”The key thing is to get sleep, night in and night out,”” said David Salafsky, Campus Health Coordinator for Harm and Risk Reduction. “”Getting consistent bed and wake-up times is important, and that’s difficult for students.””
Get a tan: Vitamin D, or “”the sunshine vitamin,”” is linked with mood and emotional state.
According to Office of Dietary Supplements, sun exposure is the main source of vitamin D for most people. Exposure to UV rays from the sun trigger vitamin D synthesis in skin.
By little, I mean one drink, not a daiquiri pong tournament with a full bracket.
Regardless of science, we know what students look like when they resurface from the depths of the library. Sunshine does wonders for people. And since the UA has no shortage of sunshine, go outside!
Besides, people who get enough sunlight are happy. Happy people do well on their exams.
So hang tight, UA, we’re almost there. Take those books and go outside, get a tan, take a nap and drink a fruity drink. But hang on to that letter home to Mom – you may still need it.
Chelsea Jo Simpson is a journalism sophomore. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu
