By HANNAH HOUSER
Ranger Reporter
Finals week is here, bringing with it the all-night cram sessions along with gallons of caffeinated drinks.
Because finals week is such a stressful time, students may be inclined to go into panic mode or feel like they are all alone in this battlefield commonly referred to as college.
Students and teachers have shared their strategies for success.
“For a math final, the best thing to do is to create your own test,” said Sherri Clowe, a mathematics instructor.
Clowe said if a student can put a test together with the problems he or she thinks are going to be on the final and work them without looking at their notes or examples, the student is ready to take the test.
“If you can’t do it without looking at your notes or examples, then you need to go back and you need to study some more,” Clowe said.
“When I was in college, I would re-do all of the problems I thought were going to be on the test like, seven times, with the same numbers. And then I would go to a problem with different numbers to see if I could do those,” Clowe said.
Clowe also offered advice for other exams.
“But in my history classes, I had essay questions,” she said. “So I really had to go back over my notes, and I had to look at my notes and say, ‘OK, what did he emphasize?’”
Clowe said she outlined what she would write about a particular topic to have an idea of what to write about.
“I just cut my activities short,” said Yurivia Herrera, a criminal justice major. “Ask for less hours at work so I can study more. My social activities, I cut that, too.”
Managing one’s time is one of the key factors to success.
“It’s time. It’s managing your time, and it’s really hard!” Herrera said. “With finals, or any test, it’s important to make time for it. It’s what you have to do.”
Herrera said she prefers studying outside her home because it’s less distracting.
“I do a lot of my studying at school, because I’m too busy at home with my son and all,” she said.
“It’s so much easier to do it at school.”
Herrera said study groups also are beneficial.
“Those are perfect,” she said. “They help a lot.”
“It has to be quiet to study,” said Asaad Khamisi, a business management major. “That’s my strategy.”
Unlike many students, Khamisi prefers to not listen to music while studying; he finds it distracting. He also said he goes to the Math Outreach Center when he needs help.
Success during finals week is a combination of time management and using resources but also having a strong desire to succeed and do well.
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