Today is my final day of spring term classes!!!
I have loved my courses, but I am looking forward to being able to study in my pajamas and bake cupcakes during my breaks. Until I can do that though, there are five things I like to do in the final week of classes so I thought I would share them here 🙂 🙂
1. Locate all my notes
No matter how organized I am, a few pesky pages of notes or handouts get misplaced. In the final week, I gather all my notes from the term together, separate them into classes, and figure out any gaps. Before friends go back home or get tucked into their study caves, I want to make sure that I have everything I will need to prepare for finals.
2. Read through notes and mark with questions
While classes are still in session and professors and TAs still have office hours, I like to read through all my notes and mark any questions I have so I can get them resolved as early as possible. There is nothing worse to me than studying for a final and then finding a giant hole in my notes about a topic I thought the prof would elaborate upon but never did.
3. Clean Up My Computer Desktop
Maybe this is just me, but I have a terrible habit of dragging links and folders onto my desktop for easy access and then never putting them where they belong in my university folder, or just never trashing them. Before I sit down at my desk to study for finals, I like to make sure that everything is in its place to avoid the panic that accompanies a missing assignment.
4. Stock Up on Post-It Notes and Erasable Pens
Post-it notes are my study strategy go-to because I can colour code things, flag important sections in textbooks, summarize chapters, and so much more. Between post-its, highlighters, and coloured pens for headers, definitions, etc. my notes are essentially a mini rainbow of information. Haha takes the learning rainbow to a whole other level. And erasable pens are my saving grace. I used to go through white out like it was going out of style because I like my notes to be scribble-free but now I get the dark lines of pen writing without the hassle or waste of white out. I know I could write in pencil instead, but as a leftie, my writing often smudges and I can’t stand the look of blended pencil on a page, or on the side of my hand.
5. Map Out a Study Schedule for Final Exams
Classes let out on a Monday April 4th this term, and exams start up on Thursday April 7th. Usually exams are scattered across several days in the exam period, and this can create the false illusion that I have more study time than I actually do. I make a calendar of each day in the exam period, block off the days I have for exams and the days immediately before for relaxation, and then schedule in study time for each of my exams. Not only that, but I detail what I am going to do each day like draft essay answers or create concept maps for a certain number of chapters. Keeping these goals on-task and realistic gives me a sense of accomplishment when I complete them and can check them off, and it keeps me focused to avoid the last-minute panic of night before studying.
What do you do in the final week of classes???
Literary and Lovely 