Stresses Rise Finals Week

By: Nick Baker

The school year is filled with homework, tests, projects and quizzes, all which cause pressures to rise in college students, but it’s the week of finals that anxiety levels reach their peak.

Finals tests usually encompass an entire semester’s worth of information, forcing students to go back to information they learned months ago. This idea of having to remember such a vast amount of information can be daunting to a person, and in many cases, seems overwhelming.

Tommy Keegan, a senior from Berkley MI, is facing four tests with cumulative questions on them and he is having a hard time handling them.

“All my tests in my biology and chemistry courses have me remembering stuff from the start of the school year,” said Tommy, “I have to study for hour’s everyday just to prepare and I probably still won’t do very good on them.”

This stress can be health damaging and lead to a lack of sleep in many students and many have to deal with the anxiety in different ways.

“I try and watch TV to get my mind off of it,” said Tommy, “or I’ll play video games or hang out with friends, anything to stop myself from worry and think about something else.”

That’s not the only way to relieve your stress here in Mount Pleasant; many of the dorms bring in therapy dogs meant to release the pressure of finals. Jessica Wilt, a freshman from Berkley MI, in particular felt the dogs were very helpful.

“I loved the dogs,” said Jessica, “They really helped me get the tests off my mind. I’ve never taken a final in college before so I don’t know what to expect, it’s been really hard for me. The therapy dogs just really helped me relax a little.”

Even with pressure building up this time of year, many of those who feel the stress on the rise find a way to bring it back down. There are many options available for college students to relieve the anxiety that finals cause, all of which should be used if you feel the demands of the tests are getting to you.