On Thursday, Dec. 9, final exams begin at Ventura County community colleges. For many students, this will be their first set of finals.
“I took a summer class and I had a final for that, but this is my first time taking more than one class at a time,” said Araceli Escoto, 18, a first semester student.
While Escoto says she finds finals stressful so far, she hasn’t started studying yet.
“I haven’t. I have [the Criminal Justice exam] on the thirteenth and he just gave us the review today.”
Other students have been preparing farther ahead.
“Oh yeah, I feel completely prepared,” said Sam Bobb, 18, a first semester technical theatre and piano major. “I probably started a week and a half ago, just to make sure I know what I need to know. That way I’m not completely stressed out.”
While many students are concerned about how they will perform on their exams, there are people offering advice.
“Look at your previous exams, like midterms or quizzes,” says Breana Sanchez, a veteran tutor at the OC Tutorial Center. “Some [teachers] take it directly from their old stuff.”
While Sanchez urges students to study as much as they can, they also need to know when to stop.
“Aside from not taking the test, the worst thing to do would be to get very little sleep the night before,” Sanchez said.
For those who would try to keep themselves awake and alert as long as possible, Oxnard College’s ASG will be serving free coffee in the cafeteria on Thursday and Friday this week.
Cal Newport is the author of “How to Win at College” and writes the blog “Study Hacks.” He recommends taking the emotion out of studying.
“Approach your exam prep like a robot and you’ll be surprised by how smoothly it goes,” Newport suggests on his blog. “You’re executing a specific plan custom-designed to minimize time and stress.”
He advocates spending 20 minutes gathering material for each subject and planning specific actions with well-defined endpoints.
And what if you are a procrastinator? Newport offers little sympathy.
“Man up,” he writes. “No one is impressed that you can put off work.”
Students will soon be able to relax and enjoy the holidays if they can make it through this next week.
Describing how she hopes to feel after her exams, Bobb says, “Oh my goodness, I did it. It’s over.”
