Finals are in the near future; you can feel the anxiety forming inside of you, you can predict all the nights that
you will not sleep, and think of all the stress of cramming everything you did not learn from the past months. The struggle is real. However, as hard, depressing and stressful taking exams can be, it does not have to be this way. Here is a list on how to study effectively for finals, without the crying and the excessive coffee drinking.
Always study from the study guide. Some professors choose to skip this and tell their students to study everything. However, others take their time to make an extensive guide on the things that will be on the exam. As a student, you should take this gift, hug it, appreciate it, fill it and study it. The only thing you need to do with this is to fill it out and then read it several times. This will help you skip all the stress from studying the whole book wondering what is going to be on the test, and actually studying what is important.- If you do not understand something ask the professor for help. This is essential. Professors have office hours for a reason and you should take full advantage of
them. Going to ask questions is not a bad thing; you are paying a lot of money for your education, in fact, you are going into debt for it so you should make the most of it. Professors are there to help you with all the concerns that you have, *cough* and if they see that you are worried about your grades they will remember you when you have an 89.9 and you want an A *cough.* 
If you are having a hard time memorizing, make it fun. If you cannot remember the bones of your body, make a song about it. If you need to learn every part of a newspaper, create your own newspaper. If you need to learn about sleep cycles, sleep.- Take brakes. As much as you try, you will never memorize everything in one sitting. After a while, you will realize that if you do not stop for breaks you will not remember anything that you are reading. You can drink tea, stretch, or listen to some music; there are endless options. Here is a good and helpful list on how to take a study break.
- DO NOT PULL AN ALL NIGHTER. THIS IS A TRAP
. There is nothing better than going to an exam well-rested. According to an article on The Huffington Post, if you pull all-nighters your grades will be lower, your memory will be worse and your study methods are not going to be worth it. Also, taking all-nighters means no sleep, and no sleep means being tired, and being tired means that you will probably fall asleep while taking your exam. DO NOT DO THIS.
I hope these tips will help all of you with your next examinations. Good luck will all your exams! remember to always have a little fun with it, and make sure you do not wake up at 10:00 a.m. and you had an exam at 9:30 a.m.
Thank you for reading!
Virginia Rodriguez 