How to prepare for finals

It’s that time of year again for all Coastal Carolina students. It is the end of the semester and I know a lot of us are ready for nice relaxing vacation and most students are looking forward to graduation and starting their new lives as independent adults.

However, we are all not done just yet we still need to be prepared for finals. But we cannot just rush through them and be like “who cares I’m ready for vacation!” We all need to at least finish this year strong and not slack off on anything. Especially to those that are not only rushing to study but packing at the same time as well.

What is usually the one thing that gets students down the most around this time is stress.

Brooke Miranda, who will be graduating from CCU in this upcoming May, gave her advice on what to do in preparation for finals.

"Make sure to get plenty of sleep and eat good meals," says Miranda. "Plan your week out with a study schedule helps me avoid being over loaded with info to avoid stress”.

If you are stressed and if it eventually gets to the point where you cannot take it anymore. I recommend the best way to let the stress out is to go to gym and just let it out there by either lifting, running or even just hit the punching bag to let it all out.

Whether they are tests, presentations, or essays there is always the best solution to preparing for them and acing them.

Bailey Brown, a Coastal Carolina student, talked about how she prepares for exams.

"I make electronic flashcards on your phone and I color code my notes," says Brown. "I condense my notes to better understand them”.

I couldn’t agree more on this best advice for preparing in any other way. So, preparing for finals early, make flashcards, and color code your notes will definitely help you prepare for finals. I also recommend re-writing your notes onto a separate homemade study guide because rewriting your notes will help you memorize your notes better when you rewrite them.

During finals week, can be a really tough time but there is also some major advice on what you should not do during finals week. Bailey recommends to not procrastinate, stay up late, and do not blow off studying.

We all know this is also the time to do some last-minute fun exciting adventures with our friends. But if you do just make sure you do put plenty of room in for studying because school does come first. My other advice I have is do not study at the last minute like say the night before your final. When you do study early you will already have memorized most of it but when you study it the night before it will not stay in your memory very well.

"Do not stress out when finals come," says Brown. "Study hard and don’t get distracted, pay attention in class and don’t skip. Go to see your professor’s office hours and ask questions if you do not understand something.”

Some last advice would also be to a shout out to the freshman and new transfer students here at Coastal Carolina on how to be ready for more finals for the next three years because, finals after your freshman year will get harder as the years go on.

Overall, finals are something that should be taken seriously and should not be put aside. I recommend start preparing for them right now because finals will come faster than you think.