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Tips to avoid test-anxiety and burnout during finals season.
By Natalie Wertz
With finals season approaching, you may find yourself dealing with test anxiety, stress, and feeling burnt out. But not to worry, The University of Findlay has some resources and tips for Oilers to make it through the end of the semester.
“We’re advocates for students,” Bill Johnston, Director of Orientation and Student Persistence at the Oiler Success Center said. “[UF staff and faculty] want nothing but your success.”
The University of Findlay has a number of resources for students to access all year, especially when preparing for finals. All UF students have access to the Writing Center, the Oiler Success Center, the Academic Support Center, and even advice from upperclassmen and graduate students.
“[The Writing Center] provides in-person, Zoom, or online email appointments in which you can send any type of writing,” senior psychology major attending the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program and undergraduate writing center tutor London Moening said. “[It can be for] English, nuclear medicine, psychology, a chem lab.”
Moening also said that writing center tutors not only assist with the content of the piece of writing, but also things like grammar, APA, MLA, citations, thesis clarification, and much more related to writing. The Writing Center has walk-in hours every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday’s from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. where you can attend appointment-free and get fifteen minutes of assistance.
“[The Writing Center] versus other content tutoring [is that] we actually have a full course that we have to take that trains us on how to be the best tutor we can be,” Moening added. “Not just even learning wise but how to be personable and how to be there for someone. We do see a lot of international students and we’re trained to help them.”
Moening also said that the Writing Center hosted a “Long Night Against Procrastination” event from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on April 25.
In addition to the Writing Center, The Oiler Success Center is another available resource for students.
“The Oiler Success Center [is] the University’s first stop shop,” Johnston said. “We may refer you to the Academic Support Center. It’s the division of student success.” Both the Oiler Success Center and the Academic Support Center’s goal is offering tutoring for every course on campus.
With campus resources in mind, more seasoned students also suggest developing good study habits.
“Study [the biggest and most difficult] exams first. You have a longer period of time to study the most difficult [exam],” UF pharmacy P3 student Hayden Russell said. Russell said he advises students to use the Pomodoro Technique, in which you take a certain amount of time, like 30 minutes, then take a 5-minute break and repeat for a few sessions.
“Do not procrastinate…don’t put off studying. Finals week shouldn’t be super, super stressful,” Moening said. “If you prepare for [finals week], it should be a celebration [that the] semester is finally over. You shouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
Moening also advised to inquire your professors, ask for help, and see if they offer study sessions for their finals.
“Take advantage of everything so that your finals week itself isn’t super stressful, and you can, kind of, ease into your break and relax,” Moening said.
Johnston advises students to be organized and that organization leads to time management throughout the entire semester.
“Sometimes students are trying to catch up with their readings and [assignments] while they’re studying for finals, and that’s pushing everything back, and they’re running out of time,” Johnston said. “So, it really starts at the beginning of the semester and having a good process of reading your chapters, taking notes from your chapters, taking notes during lectures and combining those notes, and organizing that all well. It’s really a process that you need to be organized and have good time management from the beginning.”
Along with time management and note-taking, Johnston says he likes the use of Cornell notes as a preferred method of note-taking. He advises to create a five or seven-day study plan.
Russell advised to try and stay off your cell phones during study time breaks. It’s really easy to get sucked into the world of scrolling on social media, watching TV, or playing video games, and by the time you realize its past your break time, you lose your motivation to study. The biggest thing is to stick to a study schedule and follow it.
The Oiler Success Center gets involved in UF’s Late Night Munchies event during each finals week. Late Night Munchies gives students the opportunity to enjoy free food and enjoy entertainment. Usually, the Student Activities Board books live entertainment to join the event.
“Take advantage of everything that campus has for finals like Late Night Munchies,” Moening said, “things like that, just to relax.”
