Too much coffee? Who could ever have too much coffee?

With nearly three weeks of classes left, it seems like every teacher forgot to assign a paper, wants to add in another test or squeeze in just a few more topics before “dead week.” We all know this week is rarely treated as a “dead week.”

Just this past week I’ve had two tests, a pop quiz and a few hundred pages of papers to write. It’s enough to drive anyone crazy. So as we prepare for there to be a shortage of seats in the library, no available electrical outlets to be found and the wait times for coffee to be longer than actual lectures, here are some tips to survive until May 12.

1. Stay on routine

If you’re one of those students whom I’ve heard about (but have never actually met at this point) who has a routine you stick through throughout the semester, don’t change now. If you go to the gym every night, don’t skip it. Staying on routine until the end of the semester will mean less stress for you in the end.

2. Eat healthy

Candy is not a food group. Just because it can be delivered to your door does not mean you should order it. Praise Jesus for places that come in clutch like Dominoes and Insomnia Cookies, but switching that bag of chips for a bag of popcorn will be much better for you in the long run. Stay away from energy drinks altogether, and if your regular caffeine intake skyrockets during exams like mine, try switching a cup of coffee for a cup of tea. A healthy body and healthy mind will result in healthy grades.

3. Sleep

I know. Who sleeps during exams? I get it. To be fair, I’m not saying to get a full eight hours every night. To be honest, who gets that on a normal basis? But if you average three hours a night during the week, try to get a few more on the weekend. If long periods of sleep are completely out of the question, then fall in love with the 20-minute nap. It’s even been scientifically proven that 20-minute naps give us just enough rest to get up and go without our bodies falling too deeply into REM sleep (this is when we wake up feeling groggy instead of refreshed).

4. Take breaks

Take care of your mental wellbeing just as much as your physical. You don’t sprint an entire marathon. Sometimes it’s okay to walk – like literally closing the textbooks and taking a walk. Physical activity will increase your ability to focus and enhance the time you do spend studying.

5. Don’t procrastinate

Seriously, just turn the Netflix off. It will be there in two weeks.

6. Remember you are more than your GPA

So many times in college, we get caught up in worrying about how we will stand out on paper. Is my GPA high enough? Do I volunteer enough? Am I doing enough? Am I enough? The numbers between 1 and 4 that we base our collegiate success on will not follow us the rest of ourlives.IfaCinaclass is the best you can do, then you did the best you could. If the grade you get is not the grade you want, then figure out why you got that grade. Was it your study techniques? Were there outside factors? Learn from it and move on. You don’t have to be better than the other 15,000 students at USM; you just have to be better than you were last semester. So give yourself some grace, and together we’ll get through the next few weeks from hell.