As finals week approached, I began to venture down to the Young Research Library. During the week, everyone seemed to be in a stupor. People came and went, staring intently at their papers as they walked to their finals. People constantly posted Facebook statuses on how tired they were or what their finals schedule was like. It seemed like everyone was intently looking for something, an answer, a good grade, something. When I was in the library, I could feel the studiousness around me. People looked for a good place to study. Sometimes they got annoying, though, when they talked too loudly.

Here is the story of one day during finals week: Everyone around is being so studious. I open my book and start studying. Fifteen minutes in, I get tired of studying. Oh well, Facebook time. Let’s see how my friends are doing. Hey, my friend who’s at law school is on, I’m gonna talk to her. After 10 minutes, she decides to go back to studying. Maybe I should too.

Many thoughts are going through my head as I write. Some are actually about the material I am studying. Others, though, are about what I am going to do after finals. Ooh, let me check if there are any deals for stores when I go shopping. Ten minutes later, I realize I have just wasted valuable study time. Must focus….

I finally get a good 30 minutes of studying in. I think I now understand the relationship between interest rates and the money market. Now to study the effect of the interest rate increases on the bond market….

After about another 30 minutes of studying, I realize that I am getting hungry. I’ve been working pretty hard, time for some food. But what kind of food do I want? Oooh, Thai food sounds good. I should call my friend over and order pad thai. Time to leave the library!

As I head home, I feel very productive, I got a lot of studying done and I feel like I know a little more about economics. Today was a productive day!

When I arrive home, I eat Thai food with my friend and then we study at my place. The thing is, he is very productive, but I am falling into a bit of a food coma. This is not good. Maybe I should lie down … zzz …

As nine o’clock rolls around, my friend is wrapping up studying while I am still fast asleep. My friend wakes me up (grr!) and says “Hey, I’m gonna head back now.” That’s when I realize it is already 9 p.m. Oh no! I wasted three hours. What am I going to do? How am I going to wake up? I ask my friend, “Hey, can you get me some boba?” My friend replies, “Sure” and orders some boba as he leaves. Yes, I shall be awake.

When the boba finally arrives, something is wrong. There are way too many coffee flakes in it. How could they make boba this bad!?! Oh no, what am I going to do? Finally I decide to just make my own coffee to stay awake and just stay up all night studying. Man oh man.

Experiences like this make me realize the stresses of finals week. Everyone is on edge, and there is never enough time to study. You always feel like you are unprepared for the next test and just can’t wait for it to end.

Fall quarter is the worst because you can feel the holiday spirit and just yearn to leave school and go shopping. Sleep deprived, you attempt to shove as much knowledge into your brain as you can and hope that it sticks. You lose track of days and only know how many days you have left until your next final.

When it is all done, you feel a tremendous sense of relief. Or not. Because you know that this will happen again next quarter and next quarter and the quarter after that. And if you are planning on going to grad school, and then for a PhD, then this cycle will never end.

Oh well, what can you do?

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