There are two weeks left until hell, and most students will be so busy completing their end-of-semester tasks that the dreaded week of finals will come all too soon. Studying for the (often) cumulative tests can be quite nerve-racking, as the list of possible distractions is endless.
Most people rely on their own personal and battle-tested regiments to get by. Depending on the student and his or her study habits throughout the semester, finals can be a mere review of material already mastered or a brutal crash course brought on by four months of procrastination. Most students fall somewhere in the middle by passionately engaging and diligently working in their favorite classes while ignoring the readings and necessary studying for the classes deemed useless because of either plain boredom or lack of connection to a current career path.
Regardless of student sentiment, part of college is gaining knowledge that we both love and hate in an effort to gain a well-rounded education. The difficult thing is going through with the actual process of this theory.
When engaging in the art of cramming for a test, it is always helpful to supplement yourself with a harmless distraction. These indirect study aides aim to provide comfort and help ease the burden of months of material being stored in the brain in a matter of hours. While study groups are popular and usually pretty fun, the temptation to launch into long conversations over anything but the topic at hand is enormous. A load of caffeinated beverages is a must and its track record in pressure-packed, university situations cannot be denied. There is also Aderol and crack, but breaking the law is something best left for the weekends. With all options probably exercised numerous times since high school, why not take a different, more relaxing approach to finals this winter?
Listening to music while studying is not unheard of, but is often frowned upon because of its tendency to either distract or bore. The biggest mistake a student can make is listening to music that contains memorable lyrics and choruses. You’re not going to accomplish anything substantial when lip-syncing to some flavor-of-the-month pop star’s catchy chorus about sex and/or partying. Think about the kids who get better grades than you. Do you think they are listening to who was No. 8 on last week’s TRL? I would assume not.
Another mistake students employ is listening to classical music while trying to grasp months of material. Listening to Beethoven and Mozart may be peaceful but it also can put even the most hyperactive insomniacs to sleep. It may have impressed your parents in high school and started the discussion with that one dude/chick in freshman art class, but classical music’s constant drone and lack of lyrics is not good for the long haul.
Ideally, the perfect audio supplement to cramming would be a median between the two choices. Some suggestions include Beck’s Sea Change, Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief, Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and The Postal Service’s Give Up. These albums serve as the perfect mix of ambience and consciousness.
Watching movies while studying is quite unconventional but it can serve as a unique and out-of-the-box study tool. The integral rule to remember is to only watch movies that you have seen at least 20 times so that you don’t get too wrapped up in the plot and become distracted. Viewing films you know inside and out can serve as perfect backgrounds for hardcore studying because of their familiarity with an individual. While favorite lines or scenes can temporarily alter one’s concentration, they also serve as a natural break. A movie category I highly recommend is comedy — those favorites you have seen so many times that they no longer make you laugh, but you still remember how hard you laughed the first seven times you saw them. Since most comedies are weak in plot construction anyway, this could be a very wise choice. Some popular selections would include “The Big Lebowski,” “Swingers,” Adam Sandler’s first two movies, “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore” (everything since then has been commercially driven crap) and any Farrelly brothers’ movie. I personally recommend “Wet Hot American Summer” and “Airplane!” Classic epics and dramas also work. Think of the first two “Godfathers,” or long ones like “Citizen Kane” or “Braveheart.” Watching god-awful B-movies can also be entertaining. Suggestions include “Teen Wolf,” Teen Witch,” “From Justin to Kelly” and anything starring Sylvester Stallone attempting to play a non-athletic role.
While the “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” ideology may win out in the upcoming finals week, I encourage those brave enough to chance being slightly distracted for a more stress-free work week. For those students who blow off the effort it takes to excel in finals year after year, maybe this will entice you to actually almost give a shit. Maybe it will take you from half-assing it to three-quarter-assing it. For the geniuses and workaholics who collapse after their final exam is handed in and have to be carried out of the classroom like Jesus Christ approaching the cross, maybe this will lighten your load and make finals less taxing.
Whatever your decision, I wish all good luck. And remember, it’s just a large chunk of your future hanging in the balance of every test … lighten up!
