Stress Increases as Finals Rapidly Approach

Finals week is stressful for any college student, but a variety of factors can add on to the hectic nature of the last week at school. Final projects, papers, and even the stress of having to figure out how to move out are all factors that could potentially increase stress during the final week of school. Rilly Patrick ’20 points out that having to move out right after exams are finished can be challenging. “You know, it is stressful in that I have to immediately start packing once I finish finals, and we have to get out in time to get to the airport,” he says. “So yeah, it is sort of stressful but it is relief being done.” The levels of stress also generally go up during finals week. “Yeah, I would say stress does affect me…I would say I don’t produce my best work” said Patrick. Stress can obviously be a big issue. The National Institutes of Health’s website points out there can be symptoms of stress. These include things such as “Headaches, tiredness, and forgetfulness” among other things. Other more severe symptoms of chronic stress are also listed. Many people at SLU recognize that this is an issue and attempt to combat stress around this time. “I don’t give sit down finals in part because of stress…I think that the traditional form of finals tends to particularly lend itself to those who are exhausted and stressed…they will likely suffer the impacts of exam anxiety” said Larry Boyette, Lecturer in the First Year Program. “I do think that in the end of the day, people encounter a crunch of demands on their time that sometimes has a negative impact on their performance on their final assignments. I don’t know if I have an easy solution to that.” The Mayo Clinic states on its website that “Once you’ve identified your stress triggers, think about strategies for dealing with them. Identifying what you can control is a good starting point. For example, if stress keeps you up at night, the solution may be as easy as removing the TV and computer from your bedroom and letting your mind wind down before bed.” For some people the stress of finals plus moving out all at once isn’t too bad. “I mean…I’ve moved so much in my life…it’s like ‘ok, you gotta pack up your stuff, move it into the car, drive to where you need to go, go to the airport’, all that stuff…so I’m sort of used to it at this point. There’s a routine that happens,” said Abby Seward, 22’. “I’ve had a lot of experience with moving…I’ve lived in 11 houses. So I’m not concerned at all.” Moving can be difficult for some students who live long ways away because they must move a potentially large amount of objects around to an airport, and some may not have the means to easily do that. Stress from finals is nothing new at SLU or really anywhere else in the college world, but the added anxiety of having to move out after finals could potentially add some stress to this already extremely stressful time period. Thankfully, there are ways to combat the stress that is often felt. Summer will be kicking off once this stressful time is over, which could potentially provide some people with that little extra drive that they need to get over the hurdles and finish off the school year.