I was also struggling to come up with something to write about, but then I realized one of the main reasons for that is because I am studying for my midterms. So let's talk about that.
Midterms are scary if you don't prepare for them. As you move on in your college life, the classes get more and more challenging. It might not feel like it, but once you're taking three or four 300-level courses at once you really start understanding what people mean when they say college can be hard.
Luckily you also discover some great tricks to avoid stress and to study better. Such as...
Take good breaks.
It sounds kind of weird telling people to not study, but it's extremely important to pace yourself. While research shows that cramming does help your scores, it's not gonna help if you don't actually absorb anything in that 10-hour marathon of studying for your Physics exam.
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| You are objectively more focused after taking a break. |
Go outside and walk for a couple minutes. Buy a coffee and stick around the cafeteria for a while. Or really, just play with your phone after a long study session. As long as you rest in-between good chunks of mental exercise, your brain should be re-energized and you should get a better grade. Hopefully!
Maintain a healthy lifestyle.
All the study in the world isn't going to save you if you haven't slept in three days. Maintaining healthy habits such as eating well, sleeping well and exercising makes your body better prepared to deal with anxiety, bad moods, and just generally makes you feel better.
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| Look at that beautiful stock image! Don't you wanna be like that when you're studying? |
What I'm basically saying is a lot of studying well is taking care of yourself. Otherwise the information will just be buried underneath all the other things you have to worry about. It does suck that you can't live on McDonalds and coffee, but your brain will thank you for the balanced meals and exercise by giving you more energy in your day, and more focus when you study.
Know your limits.
Sometimes you just can't study the entire semester in one night. It's better to understand what you can get done and focus on being practical rather than trying to bite more than you can chew and accomplish nothing.
Pace your studying. Make a plan ahead of time and make sure you know what you're doing. If you're having difficulties, you can have tutors, talk to your professors, or ask classmates who are ahead of you in that subject to guide you. What's important is to know that no one is expected to get everything perfectly: you have the right to admitting you're stuck, and you have the resources to help yourself.
And since we just left Week 6, I just want to make clear: midterms can really mess you up. If you're not feeling well and if it feels like too much, SMC has in-campus counselors that can help you. No one's alone in this, and everyone knows how hard it can get sometimes.
This was a pretty long post, but I hope it helped you somehow. Good luck in your midterms, and have a lovely day.
