The F word. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about finals. These tests are those that could make it or break it for most students.

From my three years of experience with a week like this, I’ve definitely learned a lot and changed my attitude about this time. My freshman year, my attitude was basically that of a know-it-all. I hate to admit it, but it’s true. “Oh, I know this! I’ll pass with flying colors!” That was all I thought that entire week. The next week was a completely different story. Some finals I saw I did great on, but others, not so nice. The ones I did worst on turned out to be the ones I was mainly over confident about.

Finals week isn’t exactly something to take lightly. These grades really matter in the long run, especially if you have a low, borderline D in a certain class. You don’t exactly know what the test holds in hand for you; it could be easy, maybe as expected, or it could be very difficult and end up going all the way back to the first week of school. Either way, you can never really over-prepare yourself for finals week.

Now, even though mostly everybody absolutely dreads this week, I somewhat look forward to it. Mainly because I know that after this week full of half days and 50 minute lunches, I get to start off with a clean slate. That means perfect grades in all my classes the next Monday (hopefully to maintain). Also, it marks either the middle of the year, meaning you’re half way through the school year, or, even better, it’s the end of the year.

Either way, always take finals seriously; cramming also never works, going in cocky is even worse, and there’s basically only one thing to guarantee a high pass on a final: study.