WSU students push through finals week

As fall semester at WSU draws to a close, there is only one thing standing between students and break: finals.

Sophomore social work major, Alondra Robles has admitted that she is very stressed out.

In the week preceding finals, she woke up one day thinking that she was late to class, only to realize, that she had already gone to class.

“The stress makes you feel like you’re just going to fail everything, and you have so much to do that you don’t want to do it,” said Robles.

Robles said that thinking about tuition also adds pressure.

“You don’t want to fail your classes and have to pay for them all over again,” said Robles.

For instance, Robles had to retake BIO 1030 after having failed it, and she said that it is probably the final that she is most stressed over.

“I failed my final in that class last year. When I called my mom and I told her, she made me feel better. But if I fail again, my parents might be frustrated,” said Robles.

Robles said that she has been pushing hard this semester. She sleeps in the library sometimes, and while fighting off procrastination, she makes sure that she finishes her assignments.

“It’s worth it. If you give up, you put yourself so far behind,” said Robles.

Freshman film major, Stephen Waters spent the week before finals exhausted after staying up until 5 a.m. writing a paper for one class and working on a final project for another.

“I’m a pretty bad procrastinator. I usually don’t start stuff until really late. It hasn’t turned out terribly yet, as I haven’t failed any projects that I’ve started late, but I’m assuming that won’t last long,” said Waters.

Waters said that high school finals weren’t as stressful because he didn’t have to pay a lot of money for them. His strategy for doing well on exams is to avoid over-thinking.

“I don’t really get that concerned over final tests, I don’t know if I should be more so, but I usually do okay. I took a lot of AP tests in high school and I was able to do pretty well on those without too much stressing over them,” said Waters.

Waters said that he’s definitely not giving up at this point, despite his exhaustion. He’s pushing through because he doesn’t see a reason to give in now, or at any point.

“I’ve had the grudging realization that I kind of have to keep going even if I’m super tired because I really like it here and I want to be able to continue to go to college,” said Waters.

Kelly Dao, a junior majoring in business said that final turn-in dates before finals make final exams even harder to juggle.

“Professors tend to overwhelm you with 10-page essays, 3 hour long projects, and presentations packed on before your actual finals. All of that means that you don’t have that much time to study,” said Dao.

Dao said that just looking at her schedule for finals makes her overwhelmed.

“I work, I go to school, and I feel like I don’t really want to do any of this,” said Dao.

Dao said that to stop procrastination, she reminds herself that her grades depend on her work, her life depends on her work, and she’s paying for the class.

“Why should I fail it if I pay to retake it? I make sure I push through it, and I do my best no matter what,” said Dao.

Dao said that she has seen her friends react to finals in a variety of ways. Some of her friends get all of their work done and study all night while others simply take the week one day at a time.

“It’s pretty miserable. It’s not just the 10-page essays, single-spaced, with one-inch margins. It’s also knowing that your final is 30 percent of your grade. You gotta do what you gotta do,” said Dao.

While some of her friends look at their degrees as just pieces of paper and are questioning the amount of effort it takes, Dao doesn’t look down on people who choose to give up.

“To each their own, everyone deals with their stress in different ways. It’s a loss, though, being in the real world means dealing with a lot of pressure,” said Dao.

Dao said that while finals can be emotional and mental burdens, here at Wayne, students have the ability to go to college and pursue higher education, an opportunity most people in the world don’t have.

“Also, I know that it will feel really, really great knowing that I busted my butt studying if I do well on exams,” said Dao.

For more information, contact Aleanna Siacon at (586)3545040 or aleanna.siacon@wayne.edu. Follow her on Twitter @ATerese11

http://www.thesouthend.wayne.edu/features/article_e6d1b342-a3b2-11e5-8540-938b1aa016dc.html