Finals are just around the corner, and USC freshman Shalini Mukherjee is feeling it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more stressed in my life,” she said.
Mukherjee, a spring admit, said she is overwhelmed by her general education (GE) workload and has “finals either back-to-back or so far apart that I don’t really know how to pace myself.
“It’s just a little bit crazy that I have 12-page papers, with an additional final, for two out of four of my classes,” she said.
Finals week is almost here and Trojans are experiencing varying degrees of stress. Some, like Mukherjee, are barely surviving, while others are thriving.
Junior Tommy Young, a film and television production major, said he has been stressed about his final project.
Young said he has been “waking up thinking about it, going to bed thinking about it, all day thinking about it.”
To destress, he said he turns to his a cappella group, Reverse Osmosis.
“It’s a big outlet for me,” he said, adding that “Yes, they are real.”
Besides Mukherjee and Young, most students seem undisturbed by the looming weeks of finals.
Shirley Medrano, a sophomore studying human biology, said that her finals aren’t “too heavy.”
“I’m kind of chilling,” Medrano said. “Like, I’m kind of relaxed.”
She attributed her lack of stress to her main exam being multiple choice.
“If I don’t know the question, there’s at least a small chance that I can get it right if I do an educated guess,” Medrano said.
Iker Charbit, a freshman business administration major, said he’s okay, too.
“I haven’t really started studying finals, to be honest, but I only have like two, so it’s fine,” he said. “Next week I’m going to lock in.”
But first, Charbit’s going to his frat’s initiation party and said he might also surf this weekend.
“I’m locked in when I need to be,” he added.
Charbit isn’t the only Trojan procrastinating for finals.
Freshman biochemistry major Shena Chang said she isn’t stressed because she simply hasn’t started studying yet.
Chang said she plans on pulling all-nighters before her exams.
“I don’t know if it actually works,” Chang said of the last-minute cram sessions.
Some Trojan seniors are feeling especially calm about their finals. Parker Goodrich, a senior mechanical engineering major, only has one final, and it’s for his piano class.
He hasn’t yet practiced outside of class, but said he is planning to start tonight. He has a keyboard in his room and is “going to play for two or three hours to see if I can learn the songs.”
His final is on Wednesday.
“I’m more of a wait till the last minute type of guy,” Goodrich said.
After his final, he is going to “find a job, drink and hang out.”
Despite being extremely stressed, Mukherjee admitted she might “procrastinate a little bit too much.”
“I’m still going out and having fun, but definitely less than I was during the middle of the year,” Mukherjee said.
After all, Trojans know how to work hard and play hard.