It's about that time

Guest post by Jacqui Slinger
Director of academic development services

It’s hard to believe that final exams are only one week of classes, one Forum, one Chapel and one Handel’s Messiah away.

It is time now to kick it into “Beaver gear” by being hardworking and industrious while preparing for those exams.

The first step is to find the right place to study. For most students that means some place outside of your residence hall room, at least for part of the time. The library provides a quiet place to study—find your own nook to call your own.

The Learning Resource Center allows you to go someplace quiet with other people who have the same goal. Tutors are available to assist with most general education classes and study groups allow you to bounce ideas off of others who are taking the same course. The Technology Center is the place to go to complete assignments that require computer assistance. Visit the Writing Center for expertise in the writing process. Each of these places offers excellent service and specific knowledge.

Then for the next two weeks, carry study material with you wherever you go. You never know when you will have time to study. Create flashcards of key terms to flip through while waiting for a meeting to begin, turn textbook chapter headings into questions and quiz a classmate at lunch, record a complicated chapter of a textbook on tape and play it before you go to sleep at night, etc. (I’ve got a million more ideas from where these came from... )

Just as important is to make time to for stress relief. A favorite is the annual Finals Breakfast to be held this year on Dec. 13 beginning at 10 p.m. in Marbeck Commons.

A fun, festive atmosphere is created by Marbeck Center Board during which faculty and staff serve good food while wearing our silliest holiday sweaters. Contests, singing and more makes the night a good time to forget the stress for a short time and to let you, our students, know that you are cared for and that we wish you well both in your exams and during the holiday season.