Senior government and politics and information systems major

Exam week seems to bring out the worst in all of us. For me, not only is it the one week of the semester when I’m stressed out the most, but it’s also the one week of the semester when I literally care the least about how I look — meaning I typically look like I’m suffering from a bad case of tuberculosis during finals.

Before exams, my parents generally assume I have no common sense, and remind me about how to prepare for finals week. Really? I had no idea people eat breakfast and sleep every day. I thought we lived in a world of insomniacs who have a low intake of protein and calcium.

I didn’t want to write a column about how to simply prepare for finals week; I trust that your 13-plus years of education have taught you the basics of exam preparation. Rather, I think it would be better to tell you what not to do during exam week. I typically run into some of these problems each semester, and although some of these rules may seem like conventional wisdom, you’ll be surprised how many people ignore this advice.

1. Don’t fall in love with a TV series on Netflix.

Last year, I was an idiot and listened to my sisters talk about what a great show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was. Though I knew it was exam week, my urge to binge on Netflix somehow surpassed my willingness to care about school. The rest was history — I spent many hours watching Danny DeVito marry prostitutes, eat alcohol-laced ham and exploit the wealth of others instead of studying for my accounting exam. My best advice to deter you from Netflix is to only let yourself browse through the “Faith & Spirituality” section — all of those movies suck.

2. Don’t break up with your significant other.

One time, while studying in McKeldin Library, I heard a couple breaking up at the table behind me. Not only was this situation really awkward, but they also spent hours complaining to each other about how badly their relationship was going. It’s exam week — do you really have time for that?

3. Don’t wait until the last minute to order from D.P. Dough.

Since almost everyone on the campus is also staying up late every night, phone calls for D.P Dough calzones are usually never-ending. I find myself waiting an average of two hours for my BBQ Chicken Zone to arrive. Don’t starve yourself — plan ahead.

4. Don’t think about your future career.

Although this advice seems kind of ironic, exam week is not the time to stress about what you’re going to be doing after graduation, especially if you have a huge exam the next day. I used to spend a lot of time browsing for jobs and graduate schools online while I was studying. This fools your mind into thinking you’re being productive because you’re not doing stupid stuff like watching cat videos on YouTube. However, at the end of the day you’re doing the same thing — not studying for exams.

5. Don’t drink.

Yeah, I know. Who drinks during exam week? All those people I see waiting for buses outside (drunk and in their clubbing clothes) the night before Reading Day, that’s who.

Hopefully, this list reminded you of how easy it is to do dumb things during exam week. Let’s try to make the end of the semester brighter by not letting ourselves succumb to bad relationships, Netflix or alcohol.

Caroline Carlson is a junior government and politics and information systems major. She can be reached at ccarlsondbk@gmail.com.