Surviving Finals

December is one of the happiest, yet most stressful times of the year.  Most college students are so close to being home for the holidays, but we still have to deal with finals.  Over the years, I've found a few ways to get through finals with my sanity... well, most of it.  Remember that what works for some people might not work for you, and it you have to find what works for you.  This is just what works for me.

1. Create a plan.  For me, this means planning out every hour of finals week.  I roughly plan when I'll have meals, when I'll take breaks, and when I'll study.  I use lots of sticky notes, Google calendar, and my planner to keep track of everything.  Being organized will ease the stress of finals, and having a schedule will help you feel more prepared.
Pinterest has great printable planners!


2. Take care of yourself.  I'll admit that it's much easier (and extremely tempting) to just order food everyday of finals week.  It'll be a lot better for your body and your wallet if you eat healthy foods.  Of course you should still eat foods you want!  If Chipotle is calling your name, head down there.  Schedule gym time to get yourself out of the library, even if it's only for 20 minutes.  If you stay healthy, you'll stay alert and ready to go!

Don't want to go to the gym?


3. Take breaks and relax.  Don't stress yourself out.  If you feel like you can't read one more word of biology or do one more stats practice problem, walk away for a minute.  I like to schedule about half an hour before bed to catch up on blogs, but I also take five minute breaks throughout studying.  If listening to music relaxes you, turn on Pandora!  Light a candle, do some yoga, grab some Starbucks!


  The night before an exam, I make sure I have all of my materials together.  I also pick out a cute, comfortable outfit.  This helps me feel confident in myself!   Good luck!

Relationships in the House

When you choose to live in the sorority, the only thing you're thinking about is who your roommate is going to be. Are we going to get a 2 person or a 3 person? I can say from my own experience that the only thing we were thinking about was which floor we wanted to live on and how we were going to get a room with a view of the lake! I never even thought about how I wasn't very close with most of the girls that were going to be living in the house with me.

Now that I have lived in the house for almost a whole semester, I can say I have better relationships with a ton more girls in my sorority. I did not know very many of the girls very well on my floor, but I've had some interesting experiences with all of them.

Here are some of the ways I've made some good friends:

Exchanges: Getting ready for exchanges was really where we got to know each other. We all had some crazy theme and a lot of girls got ready in the bathroom, so we could ask each other to borrow things. Just being in the same room was a way for us to start talking to each other.

The Morning Class Buddies: For me, I have a 9:30 class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so I will go to the community bathroom to brush my teeth and whatnot. The other girls on the floor that also have a morning classes usually see each other in the bathroom. It's an unspoken bond that cannot be replaced.

TV Room: Living in the house makes it so much easier to just go downstairs to watch TV with other girls. There's rarely ever no one in the TV room, so y'all can laugh at whatever is on. Cough Cough SVU Tuesdays…

Meals: The meals at the house have also made getting to know other girls so much easier. We have big dining room tables that we can all sit around. Especially with having a common bond, loving our sorority, we obviously have something in common, so it's not hard to find something to talk about. Heck, talk about how good the food is! Fried Fridays are where it's at…

In the end, you cannot go wrong living in the house!!! It's like a big sleepover every night, and let's not forget how many closets you obtain when you move in!

How to Survive Midterms

It happens to everyone at some point.  You're going through school pretty smoothly when you realize that you have all of your midterms back to back.  I don't know about you, but that kind of situation really stresses me out.  I thought I would offer some tips about how to get through your midterms without stressing out too hard.

1. Take care of yourself.  Exercise, eat healthy, and get plenty of sleep.  If you don't take care of yourself, you won't perform as well as you potentially could.

2. Set goals.  Maybe spend a couple of hours a day on each subject if you have multiple exams coming up.  If you have time, you could dedicate a day to each chapter that will be on an exam.  Just do something that works best for you!

3. Take breaks.  It's important that you don't wear yourself out.  Meet a friend for coffee for an hour, take the time to paint your nails, or spoil yourself with an episode of Gossip Girl.  Just make sure you don't end up procrastinating!

How do y'all survive midterms?