Upperclassmen give advice to freshmen for their first final exam experience

RELEASED: Dec. 5, 2002

DANVILLE, KY—It's that time of the year again. When sleep is at a minimum, anticipation is high and anxiety can set in.

Not the stress of holiday shopping, but rather Finals Week at Centre College. End-of-the-semester exams at Centre take place Dec. 8-13.

Centre students who have previously stared Finals Week in the eye and lived to tell about it shared their wisdom on what freshmen should expect and how to survive and thrive next week.

Here are their conventional and not-so-conventional methods.

First, don't stress out. This is easier said than done, but junior Amy Barlow says you have to keep the big picture in mind.

"Finals will not kill you, even though it may appear that way at times," she says.

Get in the right frame of mind and find a good place to study. The upperclassmen suggest somewhere out of the way.

"I've found that basements and lobbies (Yerkes, Caldwell/Acheson, LaMotte/Tyler) are open 24/7 and are usually fairly quiet," says sophomore Stacey Hohl. "But the best places to go are either the first floor of Old Centre (the room to the left of the front door) or to the Career Services/Carnegie Building because they have great couches and tables."

Junior Rob King started to offer a top-secret study spot, but backed off.

"Wait, if I tell you where I go, then where am I going to study?" he said.

After you're settled in, get down to business. Anne Ledford, a junior, says it's not wise to wait until an hour before your big chemistry exam to finally dust off your book.

"Don't cram," she says. "Start early so you can spread your studying out evenly. You'll remember more that way, not to mention feel better."

Hohl recommends reviewing past quizzes and tests throughout the day between other finals.

If studying starts to weigh heavily on you, it's time for a break, says senior Lucas Chesnut. He says to take as many breaks as needed. There are several ways to relieve stress according to the upperclassmen.

"Go for a walk or a run," Ledford says. "Exercise always makes me feel better. Cowan late night study-breakers aren't bad either for socializing."

Junior Fuad Nasir has a trick that might scare you back to the books after a timeout.

"Take a visit to the local cemetery for a walk in the middle of the night," he said with a laugh. "Doing something crazy for a few minutes will get one's mind off books."

And if all else fails, King might be able to help.

"Go to Sean Smith and Rob King's infamous hall program on stress management," says an anonymous upperclassman.

A trip to Centre's Buck exercise room or even to Wal-Mart can help, Barlow says.

Hohl says the faculty breakfast in Cowan (Dec. 9 at 9 p.m.) is always a highlight and watching some television or cranking up the stereo can also be helpful.

The faculty breakfast (breakfast food served at night to hungry book-crunching students by Centre faculty and staff) is probably a good way to go for nutrition. Chesnut advises against eating Taco Bell more than five days straight.

And last but not least, expect the unexpected.

"If Rick Axtell (Centre's assistant professor of religion) says his test will be 'manageable' or 'you can handle it,' add six hours of study!" King warns.

Best of luck!

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