It’s the last week of classes for USC students, and the next few weeks are a blur of tests, papers and packing to leave school.
Around campus, stress levels are running from “Holy Cow” to “No Biggie.”
Ifeanyi Okonmah, a junior health and human sciences major, is on the more stressed side of that scale.
“I’m definitely feeling really, really stressed and I wanted to use this weekend to de-stress but I can’t do that because I have too much to do,” Okonmah said.
But other students aren’t feeling as stressed this finals season.
“Most of my finals are just project-related, which is what I prefer because I personally don’t think I’m a great test-taker,” said Marco Alvarez, a sophomore journalism major. “Honestly, I’m feeling alright right now.”
One of the things that makes the end of the semester so stressful for students is the pressure of exams, according to a student essay from UCLA. Many students expressed that because they had less tests, they felt better about finals season.
“Normally I have a final exam in every class but this semester I have final papers, which is still a lot to write, but I have really bad test anxiety,” said junior political science major Juliana Margolis. “So I feel better about writing papers. I’d rather do that any day.”
Students do have at least some time to get their papers together before the due dates start lining up. Many students appreciate pause week for the time that it gives them to prepare and study.
“They’re really useful just to be able to really focus on my work instead of working and taking classes,” said Margolis. “Those days are really valuable to me.”
For many students leaving for winter break serves as a light at the end of the tunnel. While some students have been home recently for Thanksgiving break, others haven’t been home in a while.
“I haven’t been home since I got here, which was August 9–I haven’t gone home for four months now,” said sophomore dance major Kyson Kai. “I’m really excited to go home.”
Even if they were just home, students are excited to have the longer break to recharge, as Alvarez explained.
“I’m really excited to spend a longer period of time there.”