Any student at Whitney Young knows a mental breakdown can be expected the weeks prior or the week of finals. Whether it’s because they’re exhausted and can no longer manage to stay up until 4 am solely being driven on caffeine or because the final determines their grade in their class. Sarah Zhou ‘21 can relate as she explains why her finals are keeping her up at night, “My final is worth 20% in one of classes and I’m currently at a 79% so I really need to ace it so my teacher can bump me up!”. Here are some tips so that every student at Whitney Young can ace their final with hardly any stress.

• Make a schedule! I know some students haven’t used their planners since the first day of school but this is the perfect time to rummage through your backpack for them. Try and divide up your work, for example: if you have to study 5 chapters of Econ and 5 chapters of AP Psychology and you have 6 days to do it, try reading 2 chapters a day and saving the 6th day to go over anything that you didn’t quite understand!
• Take breaks during your study! Nobody likes to study for hours on end, your hands start to cramp and your brain is fried. Instead, try giving yourself a 30 minute break for every hour of studying. Set a timer, pop on an episode of your favorite TV show and when it’s done your brain will be fresh and you can return to studying!
• Look over old tests and worksheets! If you have procrastinated in studying for your finals and don’t have time to read every chapter in the textbooks the best way to learn is through old tests and worksheets. Chances are your teacher will make the final a compilation of old test questions.

       Finals won’t be so bad if you plan out your work, pace yourself and study effectively. In the means of all these things don’t forget to take care of your mental health. You can do it!