The Facts:

Final exams are quickly closing in and dead week is just around the corner. The weather is warming, but it certainly won’t make finals disappear.

Our Opinion:

The promises of summer and warm weather are just around the corner. Students should make an effort, though, to not let grades slip. In an era of increasing competition for internships and jobs, they are too important.

Cars are turning green, the birds are chirping loudly and the recreational past time of sun bathing is becoming more commonplace on the University’s campus. Spring is in the air, and has been in the air for a while now. The warm weather has become a constant that is building toward the most enjoyable part of college: summer vacation.

Spring is naturally distracting. Books and classes are put on the wayside as students reprioritize their recreational activities from the bottom of the list to the top. As the books close, students become more and more vulnerable to the devastation of final exams.

However, anticipation for the upcoming summer is, perhaps, the real enemy. It’s a plight that can be helped, but only if students take it seriously.

Friends should look for tell tale signs of summer anticipation. Victims will be asking everyone what they are doing for the summer and have the tendency to plan unreasonable road trips, telling people the plans — even though no one wants to hear the plans. Conversely, if you see a friend studying out of a book, they are definitely not suffering from summer anticipation.

Once a victim is identified, action must be taken to cure the individual before the disease spreads. For most, reminders of tests will scare victims into worrying about their grade point average. They will then pick up their book to study. Unfortunately, some victims will not pick up the book. These students will most likely still have a blank stare on their face as they continue to day dream about summer. At this point, help them out, pick up their book and remind them of exam’s importance. Repeat treatment until they begin studying.

The most important part of classes are coming up. Final exams play a large part in end of year grades and, eventually, can play a leading role in job searches. If you let your friends suffer from summer anticipation, they will be hurting themselves and create a tempting atmosphere for others. For the sake of containing this pandemic, students must remember the importance of exams and not stop working — at least, not yet.