The dreaded week of finals is finally here as students prepare for their last days of the semester. Finals week often brings about a number of feelings in students. Some are overcome with joy because they get to head home for winter vacation and take a break from classes. Other students are fearful for their exams and/or receiving their final grades. Some students are extremely busy, spending all of their free time in the library, while others will be spending their breaks between finals with friends. Each semester ends with a different kind of finals week, and lucky for me, mine will not be very stressful this year.
During finals week I usually find myself void of any kind of social life, incredibly stressed out, and fairly sleep-deprived. However, this year will be very different for me. As the semester concludes, I will only be taking two finals during this rigorous testing week. Not only that, but I already took a final earlier this week and the other on Wednesday. So not only do I only have two to take, but they are spaced-out which makes studying easier and, I am still done with school by Wednesday!
And while my finals week will be less challenging than most, I worked extremely hard all semester in order to be exempt from some of my finals. The entire semester I have made sure to turn in every single homework assignment, read every chapter assigned for classes, and maintain an impeccable attendance record. I complained about those assignments and projects all year long, but because I put that extra time in during the semester, this week does not seem nearly as stressful as past finals weeks.
One part of finals week that students really look forward to is selling back books. At the end of each semester, most students find their funds to be a little low. Selling our books back to WIU is a great way to say goodbye to those huge textbooks and hello to a little extra spending money. Though we barely get back a fourth of what we paid for the books, getting that little bit of money is something we always look forward to.
Finals week each semester is the moment of truth for a lot of students. It is our chance to see how much we have learned, and how far that knowledge has taken us. Some students will be grateful to have put in such long hours during the year to lighten the load during finals, while others will be kicking themselves for procrastinating. Some students are experiencing finals week at WIU for the first time, while others are taking their last final exams at WIU. Regardless of the situation, we all have one common goal for this week and that is to get finals over with and head home for a month-long vacation!
