It’s about that time. The end of the semester. The time of the school year when we’re piled up to our noses in work. The time of the school year when we start wondering how we are going to complete it and whether or not we’re competent students. Last semester, I did finals week the wrong way. And I know a lot of other people also did, since they were in Bear Mart stocking up on energy drinks before making a trek to the library.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy that loopy effect that happens after reading the same chapter in the textbook repeatedly in order to make sure that I’ve really got it, and I definitely understand that intense all-nighters are sometimes absolutely necessary in order to the make the grade. But I think there are a lot of us who get a little carried away and become a little unnecessarily obsessive. This group of us ends up ultra-stressed out, sick and depressed without any particularly good reason. Don’t be one of us.

Life seems to be pretty much about balance. Balancing your work with your social opportunities. Whenever you tip the scales too much in one direction, you end up with negative results without fail. During finals, it’s especially important to remember that and make sure that you overcome the temptation to spend the entire month of December in Olin Library. (On a similar note, you obviously should not spend the entire month avoiding work with a stick.)

So go ahead and take advantage of those stress-free zones. It seems like Washington University believes that they’re something that the student body actually needs. I’m inclined to agree.

I know it’s difficult to drop your books and take some time to hang out with friends or do nice things for yourself. I know it feels like your future career, your happiness and the happiness of your children will depend on making sure you can recite your entire textbook paragraph by paragraph. But trust me on this: not only is it a whole lot easier to learn all of the material in your textbook if you take some breaks and clear your mind every now and then, it’s important for other reasons. For starters, it will ensure that you still have a life.

It’s not all about finals or grades. There are a lot of other things going on that are important, and they’ll continue to remain important, even though you have several exams bearing down on you.

It’s the holiday season. The mall looks beautiful. Starbucks has switched over to its winter collection of coffee specials. Presidential debates are going on. The end of the regular season of college football is coming to a surprising and interesting conclusion.

Finals and grades are important to allow us to pursue our dream careers and live the type of life we want to live. They’re how we demonstrate that we’ve worked hard throughout the entire semester. But the grades we receive on our finals are only valuable insofar as they’ll help us achieve our future goals. It’s important not to lose our present life in the process.

Good luck!

Jill is a junior in Arts & Sciences. She can be reached via e-mail [email protected].

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