By Khalid Alsadek, Managing Editor and Elizabeth Walsh, Reporter
Finals week is upon us, and to do well on exams, students need to have good information on how to study during this stressful week.
Here are a few tips and tricks for Shepherd students to get through finals week.
Find a place to study and claim your stake
The atmosphere where a student studies is important. According to a medically-reviewed article, choosing an environment where you can focus is a key component to soaking up information.
Shepherd University’s Scarborough Library can provide a great focusing environment. In addition to its vast space with desks and books to use during its open hours, the library provides students with study rooms for a completely silent environment. These rooms must be requested at least a day in advance and are only available in two-hour intervals due to their high demand.
A student may request a study room by showing their Rambler to a library staffer in the Public Services Desk.
Get plenty of sleep
A typical university student might think that staying up all night wired with coffee or energy drinks and cramming until the sun comes up is the only way to study. Studies show, however, that it isn’t.
Sleep deprivation has been shown to immediately impact one’s ability to think in a negative way. It impairs the ability to make decisions, which could affect a student’s performance during an exam.
It is more important to get a good night’s sleep rather than stay up longer than one’s usual sleep schedule just to memorize some flash cards. It would be better for a student to cater their studying schedules this week based on when they usually go to sleep every night. If there is still more studying to do, one could study some more after breakfast the next morning.
Start Early and Stay Organized
Don’t wait until the last minute. For some students, it might have worked in high school. University is different.
Creating a study schedule can help a student find the time to study as much as they’d like. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin once said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Find multiple times in the day to study, and make sure to leave room for relaxing, socialization, and meals to give you the energy to push through the week.
Ask for Help
Asking for help shows that a student cares about their grades and that they want to do well on their finals. While asking for help from friends or family is an option, the library has free tutoring available for students in room 104A provided by the Advising Assistance Center. Students may meet with a tutor from Mondays to Fridays, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Check your Exam Schedule
Finals week has a unique schedule. Class times will be shifted around to different days of the week. To make sure a student doesn’t sleep through a final exam. Shepherd University’s Office of the Registrar provides a finals week schedule for students to know when exactly their final exams will be taken.