It’s the finals countdown

By Jared Shuff
Staff writer

Finals are just around the corner at Hutchinson Community College, meaning lots of stress, little to no sleep, and a sense of impending doom for many students. It seems as though finals week exists purely to destroy the sanity of all college students.

Maybe that’s the case, or maybe everyone is just paranoid from exhaustion. Whatever the case may be, there is no denying that finals week is extremely important.

Kailynn Iske, HutchCC freshman, and Lilli Ward, a sophomore, shared a little bit about how they deal with the stress of finals and how to survive the week.

“Coffee every morning, naps, late study sessions with some sleep. Basically, study, for the most part, take like 20-minute breaks, then study some more,” Iske said.

Ward agreed, adding on with her own prefinals routines.

“I’ll get out of class and give myself a couple of hours to relax, and then study all night, go to dinner, go back to studying, stay up crazy late and get coffee somewhere in there,” Ward said.

Ward admitted that she puts more stress on herself than she really thinks is necessary, also stating that finals are an important part of college. For her, many of her finals are not even cumulative finals, they are chapter finals.

“I’ve had friends who have had cumulative ones but I haven’t personally, which is nice,” Ward said.

Iske is dreading her sociology final, while Ward is focusing on finishing her philosophy paper. Both of them had advice for students that are worried about finals coming up.

“Breath. Relax. You’ll do great, just believe in yourself. It’s not gonna be as bad as you think it’s gonna be,” Ward said.

“Get someone to help you study. Sometimes another person’s input can be a valuable thing,” Iske said.

Both emphasized that sleep is important, before and after the final. You are more likely to do better on the final after a night of rest than staying up all night cramming for a test. Take a nap when you finish to de-stress.

Kim Newberry, a sociology instructor at HutchCC, shared her perspective on preparing for finals. She teaches 21 credit hours, which means she has seven finals to give. Despite this, she isn’t overly stressed out about finals week.

“There’s not a lot for me to prepare,” Newberry said. “I write the exams, I make sure the students have access to all the materials, make sure everyone knows when the finals are.”

According to her, instructors love finals. They are the culmination of everything that’s been taught over the semester, a chance for instructors to see how much actually stuck with the students. That isn’t always a good thing though.

“I get sad when I grade them. Sometimes my students don’t do well and then I take it personal,” Newberry said.

As an instructor, she sympathizes with students over the stress that finals can create. Depending on how many classes a student is taking, finals can be overwhelming. Graduating students are also facing the pressure to go out on a good note.

Newberry had a bit of advice when it came to studying for finals week. More accurately, the days leading up to finals.

“Don’t wait till the last minute. Don’t wait for the night before. Don’t cram. Start now,” Newberry said.

Newberry admitted that she was notorious for waiting till the last minute to cram for a test when she was in school. There are a lot of negative outcomes that can occur because of this.

“It makes you stressed out, makes you sick. It’s not good for your face, your hair, or your stomach, so don’t cram,” Newberry said.

The basic takeaways from both students and instructors are to get some rest and find time to study before the test. Preferably a few days before, rather than a few hours.

The schedule for finals week can be found in the calendar link on the Hutchinson Community College website. Make sure all the work put into studying isn’t wasted by sleeping through the final.

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