DO NOT RUN PLZ: Students prepare for finals week stress

As classes for the spring semester wind down, students prepare to take on finals week and offer ways to de-stress.

According to Georgetown.edu, many students will face some form of stress, while others may handle it okay, there are some that don’t handle it quite as well.

“It has a physical, emotional and psychological impact on everyone,” according to Georgetown.edu.

Marianne Warzinski, the Academic Program Director for the College of Communication and Information commons, sees this first hand.

“When finals week gets closer each semester, it’s a little quieter around here,” Warzinski. “I hear more about all-nighters and students come to see me more often than compared to the middle of the semester.”

An artcile in The Daily Universe, a newspaper from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah said what students think about durig exam times.

“A study of more than 2,000 senior college students says fear of lower grades and eventual job market failure are major factors in exam stress and anxiety,” the article said. “Survey results show that 64 percent of studnets worry that their exam stress is negatively affecting their grades and academic performance.”

For Geoff Swanson, a visual communication and design undergrad, it comes down to reassuring himself  to not stress about it too heavily.

“For me personally, it can get pretty stressful but I have to remind myself that I’m doing the best I can and that’s the best I can do,” Swanson said. “But I think stress can get to people and bring out the worst in them sometimes.”

According to an article in Mentalhealthy.co.uk, “The ‘ChildLine National Exam Stress Survey’ revealed that 96 percent of the 1300 students who completed the survey felt anxious about exams.”

“Last semester I was extremely stressed out about finals week,” said Nate Shively, a Digital Media Production undergrad. “Especially as a freshmen because you don’t really know what to really expect during finals.”

Shively will occasionally get anxiety from worrying about his finals but finds ways to relive it.

“I do find things on campus to do to get my stress away like intramurals.” Shively said. “(Finals are) set up to make students stressed out, and your grade really depends upon how you do.”

One of the ways that Kent State helps students relieve stress is by having the Dogs On Campus Program come during finals week. This is a time for students to de-stress and enjoy the company of dogs in the Student Center and the library.

Warzinski suggested that students realize early on what they need to work on in order to relieve the amount of stress.

“If students stop right now to figure out what needs to be done right now and work a little bit more everyday, they will be in a better position and not be as stressed out as they could be,” Warzinski said. “If you start planning ahead of time, it will help you out.”

Adrian Leuthauser is the CAED reporter for The Kent Stater, contact him at [email protected]