Cue card saying “study tips”

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from the University that, while listing certain events and services lined up for the month, let me know that October happens to be mental wellness month. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who saw the irony in that statement—my peers soon started screenshotting the email and posting it on our year’s Facebook group*, and accompanying it with captions that expressed their displeasure: I saw everything from the innocent “LOL” to the far more expletive.

Why the outrage, you may ask? For the uninitiated, October at the University of Toronto is midterm season. While our school boasts the smartest, most accomplished students in the country, all this pride quickly gets thrown out the window when September ends. As the temperature falls, so does our hope of academic success.

The signs are easy to spot: students carrying supersized cups of coffee everywhere they go as if it were lifesaving medicine, 24-hour library space that gets filled up, the commuters sprinting from the subway to get to their exam or hand in that assignment before it is too late, and the waterworks that appear whenever a printer decides to jam. I wish, for the sake of this blog, that I could downplay it a little or say that it doesn’t get that bad, but I’m going to be honest: it does. Even if there are no exams, there are always essays, or some other assignment to finish before it is too late.

But just because midterm season is hard and stressful, doesn’t mean that it is impossible to handle. With a little planning and hard work, entering November unscathed is completely possible. If you’re still stressed, or want to be prepared for the midterm seasons that have yet to come, here are some tips I’ve used myself and learned from other friends to make midterm prep and life perhaps not enjoyable, but doable.

1. Write it down. This is a month where there are plenty of assignments to do and exams to prepare for. The best way to get your bearings, then, is to know exactly what you’re up against. Make a list of all your due dates, and keep it somewhere you know you’ll see it. Personally, I write them down on a sticky note and tape it to my laptop, and cross each one off as I go. The key here is not to sugarcoat it: write down EVERYTHING you need to get done. Being honest about your workload, even if it seems overwhelming, is key to getting everything done.
2. Make a list. To manage extracurriculars, writing centre appointments, exam dates and visa payments, apps like Wunderlist let you make checklists that can work on both your computer and phone, and let you organize them under different categories. Your plan becomes instantly easier to handle when things are broken down and organized into doable lists. Also, the feeling of crossing something off of your list is a reward unto itself.
3. Take care of your body. While this may sound obvious, basic personal hygiene and health can often get thrown out the window when you have a lot to get done. All-nighters may be necessary once in a while, but personal experience has taught me that they will catch up to you. Learn to recognize when you aren’t being productive anymore, and use that time to get some sleep or hit the gym. Also, pulling an all-nighter the night before an exam is the worst possible idea. Writing a midterm is a battle for grades, and by showing up tired, you hinder your own chance at success. Do yourself the favour and get some sleep. Not only will you feel better, you’ll refresh your mind. Sometimes, all I need to finish that essay is to look at it with a set of fresh eyes.
4. Don’t over caffeinate. Even though the Starbucks in Robarts is open until 2am, doesn’t mean you need to go there. Have a coffee in the morning and one later in the day, but keep them relatively small. Caffeine jitters are the easiest way to kill your work flow, and the overexitement often just stresses you out even more. Instead, drink water: hydrating will also keep you alert without the side effects, and it has the added bonus of keeping your skin nice and clear. Lastly: keep in mind when you hydrate. Drinking a huge cup of coffee (or even a bottle of water) right before an exam should probably be avoided—midterms are hard enough to write without having to pee the entire time.
5. Don’t panic! Often, the stress associated with midterms doesn’t come from the workload itself, but from the perception that midterms are bad. Listening to people complain about staying up all night to study and seeing people crying over exams only stressed me out more last year. Stay focused on your own lists of what you have to do. Just because the people around you are reacting a certain way, that doesn’t mean you need to.
6. Change up your study space. This was one I learned from a close friend: sometimes it’s too hard to study in your room because you feel too comfortable. Libraries and study rooms, after a while, can feel the same way. Every week or so, change the place you study in to keep your focus fresh.
7. Be prepared. I always feel the most stressed out when I feel out of control. While there are some things that you can’t control (like a late bus), there are things you can do to make yourself ready. Often, the things we forget are the most basic things, so make sure you always have several writing utensils and your TCard on hand. I remember writing an entire exam with a dull pencil last year because I only brought one pen with me for the exam, and it stressed me out to think that I might not be able to finish because I didn’t have something to write with. Do yourself the favour and pack extra supplies.
8. Get creative with studying. As a commuter, I don’t have the luxury of walking over to the library whenever I want to get something done, so I’ve had to find other places and times to get stuff done. If you have a long subway ride to school, use it effectively. Spend that time making your plan for the day and do some readings while you’re at it.

Lastly, try to keep your spirits up. Just because you have a lot to things to do, doesn’t mean you should abandon your friends or family. Give yourself an event or date to look forward to, and work hard with that goal in mind. I like to use Halloween weekend as the date where I know that I’m home free. Keep these tips in mind and remember, November isn’t that far away. In fact, it’s already here.

*A quick aside: the mass year-wide “Accepted” groups prove to be excellent places for complaints, posting exam-related memes, and watching complete strangers engage in ideological warfare in the comments sections.