So close to the end of this semester, I am impressed that you, dear reader, have enough time and brain cells left to read this column. As such, I will reward you my end-of-semester survival guide containing all of the knowledge that I have learned from taking exams my entire life — not including any of the information actually contained on the exams, which I, obviously, forgot as soon as I walked out of the room.

Firstly, and most importantly, make sure you know where and when all your exams are. It seems silly, but it’s not if you get it wrong. So please check and if you are sure you know it all, and then please, check again. As Woody Allen said (don’t judge me on my choice of quotee, the quote is still good), “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

Alas, if only it were true, I could really go for an 80, but regardless, showing up is still crucial to success.

Secondly, I recommend you fill out your teacher evaluations. You may not want to do them on principle because you are tired of the endless, harassing emails (hint, hint, ClassEval-spammers) or because you miss the days of getting out of class early when they did them on paper. But it is my hope that you will reconsider.

Although you may have ended up with the teacher from the black lagoon, rather than growing as bitter and vicious as your heartless professor, build up some good karma by writing accurate and detailed evaluations to save some future student from suffering your fate. If we all work together we can stop them before they get tenure! And even better, building up a bunch of good deeds right before offering a lot of fervent prayers for divine intervention in the form of multiple choice answer assistance can only benefit you.

Thirdly, it’s important to know yourself and to not feel pressured to study how your friends and roommates study. If you are the kind of person who stays up all night and drinks a ton of coffee, get wired up and twitch around the library in the wee hours of the morning, then continue. If you are the kind of person who normally eats and sleeps, then please, continue eating and sleeping. Exams are so consuming that it’s easiest if all other aspects of your life remain unchanged. If you go to bed at midnight you probably won’t retain information you read at 4 a.m., so don’t waste your time. Feeling normal will help you focus on the test and not on how many hours you’ve been awake.

Finally, lovely reader, rather than reverting to the usual advice of “don’t stress,” I will instead say stress properly. Exams are stressful, college is stressful, life is stressful. Stressing is normal and helpful if controlled to the point where it keeps you motivated without driving you crazy. Everyone is in the same boat. If you are overwhelmed, reach out for support and don’t let stress keep you from performing to your abilities.

So everyone, good luck on your finals and have a safe and happy break!

Do you agree with Kate’s exam survival guide? Give us your survival strategies at [email protected].