There are approximately four days left of school, and it feels like I just walked on campus last week. While I’m very excited for school to be over, I’m totally terrified. I have five finals, three presentations, too much on my plate and one very important research paper to do – all before the end of the semester.

This is quite a different situation from high school, where the end of the year means watching movies in class and having class parties. I’m more than a little stressed that I won’t have enough time to do everything I need to do. The prospect of summer is ever enticing, but my deadlines are encroaching and leaving me anxious. So how do I deal with all the stress?

In recent days, I’ve taken to not getting a whole lot of sleep. I had made it a habit to stay up till about 2 a.m. to finish up work. It was going all right until Monday, when I stayed up until 5 a.m. perfecting my presentation for Critical Analysis and Composition. I decided to take a nap before class. I set my alarm for seven so I could be at class at 8 a.m., and when 8 o’clock came…I was still in bed. In fact, I was still in bed at 11 o’clock. Needless to say I’ve taken to changing my sleeping habits.

When I finally have to go back to my to-do list, I take it one thing at a time. Back in my dorm, I have a blown-up version of my schedule for the next week. I wrote in all my finals, first and foremost. Next I added the papers and projects I have to do. I’ve even added in nap times. I think we all know how much I need to sleep. Hopefully, this works for me.

Wish me luck!

-B

When asked what they do to relax and get their minds off school, our peers came up with these tips.