Eek! The week is here! F-I-N-A-L-S. You may not have to venture to lectures, but now the time has come to live in the library and welcome the night. The holidays are drawing near which brings the last dreaded week for a college student. Where all your work from the past twelve weeks has only made a dent in the final grade you’ll be earning. It all comes down to the final test and how well you’ve understood the course material. Sometimes it can be a cake walk, literally,

“Meh, finals was a cake walk. No pun intended. I don't know how else to put it... We just had our final project which was a good portion of our grade... And I just rocked it.” -- Rachael Black, Seattle Culinary Academy at Seattle Central Community College

Be prepared to do whatever it takes to fit that study time in. May it be study groups, pouring over books, and reviewing note after note. All the prep will pay off when you receive the grade you’ve earned, but don’t take it from me; I’ve asked other college students what finals week was for them and how they survived. If they can do it so can you!

“To prepare for my finals I often made flash cards. I would start with four or five cards and study them until I could remember everything about them. When I was comfortable with those cards I would do the same with another four or five cards. When comfortable with those I would add those to the others I was already familiar with. Then review them all and repeat the process until I was done with all cards. Review is key, and so is studying throughout the day for maybe 10- 15 minutes at a time.” --Jordanay Morrison, Bachelor in Fine Arts, Metalsmithing, Arizona State University

"How I prepared for finals? Coffee, coffee, coffee. Not the healthiest way to go, but a good pot of filtered coffee goes a long way. When the inevitable sugar and caffeine crash came, I would take a break and do something fun to get my mind off of studying. Since I was a Religion and Philosophy major during my undergrad years, my finals were usually in essay form and lucky me, my American University's library had a coffee shop inside of it to keep me going! When I was a postgrad[uate] at Roehampton Uni[versity], I would take a break and indulge in Christmas activities around London. That's what worked for me: scheduling fun activities along with studying. All work and no play isn't the way to go. (Neither is all play and no work!)"-- Natalie Howard, BA Philosophy and Religion, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and MA Creative and Professional Writing, Roehampton University

Sometimes all it takes is that first year of figuring out how you work as a student, and your university as an educator to crack the code of being productive. Although it does bring the question, why do you want that decent grade? For transcripts or for actually knowing the material? College is a place for learning, but it extends out of the classroom as well, and even gaining planning skills is perhaps equal to the grade itself,

“I don't have a formula for preparing for finals, especially this year. I drink as much tea as humanly possible. I cut corners. I skim. Throughout the quarter, I decide which grade is realistic and I breakdown each assignment, quiz, and exam into points. If I do really well on a few assignments, I can cut corners in other areas. It's immature and devalues learning, but it gets me decent marks.” --Rahn Stolworthy, Informatics at North Seattle Community College

Regardless of what college means you, every student must go through finals week two to three times a year! It’s best to figure what works for you and stick with it. Hard work and proper planning are essential skills that will pay off in the real world. Best of luck to everyone in their first finals week, keep up the good work to those vets and remember when it’s all over to smile and celebrate. Happy times are ahead!