My Top 3 Ways to Manage Stress in Midterm Season
It’s past October 15th, which means two thing for a Tufts student:
1. Cold Weather
2. Midterm Season
Mid-October is a magical date with the weather turning from sunny to breezy, chilly days. My morning walk to the gym this week has reached a semester record low of 37 degrees. For a California girl, that means it’s time to break out the sweaters, ugg boots, and the daily number of warm drinks, especially from The Rez. The brightside is that the number of days until sledding season on the Prez Lawn is quickly dwindling and fingers crossed, some snow days so I can curl up in Dewick with as much food as I can eat.
The less exciting of the two is midterm season. As my pre-major advisor in the classics department describes, it goes from two weeks before and after the semester middle mark.And with midterms comes stress.My absolute least favorite word—stress—is synonymous with numerous exams and papers that somehow never seem to end during midterm season. Like with fall leading to winter, midterm season leads to finals season. Yay! *note extreme sarcasm*
Luckily, now as a sophomore, I think I’ve cracked this whole “stress” business.
*Disclaimer: I must admit that I’m writing this in a Tisch library study cube at approximately 11:39pm surrounded with Intro to Biology notes and an absurd number of Medical Sociology flowcharts.*
That being said, here’s my top three ways to deal with midterm season.
1. When in doubt, break it down!
My current metaphor for my life is a tornado that just keeps gaining momentum as midterm season continues. My go to solution: a list. Seems simple right? Especially as full-time student, varsity athlete, member of ATO (a gender all inclusive fraternity on campus), and tour guide, it helps to break it down into manageable blocks.
2. The 8 hour rule
When I got into Tufts, a friend told me that sleeping eight hours in college is a myth. Let me tell you flat out that it is a lie. As long as study blocks are productive and time management exists, there is no reason that a Tufts student should be not able to get a full night of sleep. Especially during exam season, sleep not only means better grades, but staying healthy. So put away those notes and get those eight hours.
3. Get moving
Confused? Tired? Frustrated? Take a lap—around the library, building, climb a few flights of stairs. Last weekend, I visited the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston to get myself off campus for a few hours. Thankfully, getting out on the water for sailing practice lets me unwind too.
Despite my three exams and two papers due in the next five days, I know that it’ll be survivable with the help of lists, sleep, and running up a few extra flights of stairs.