Big, bad finals week

Hey you! HAPPY FINALS WEEK! Aren't you just SO excited to take your first ever final exam as a college student?!?!

Just kidding... obviously.

Finals week is seemingly a time that every college student absolutely dreads. It's that moment when you put all of your hard-earned knowledge to the test (literally), and pray that your grades come out okay. It can be horrifying-- especially when you listen to all of the negative hype from students in grades above you:

"Finals week is literally torture." "I'm gonna fail all my exams." "It's like my teachers want to screw me over."

Chances are, you are listening to over-dramatic procrastinators and you shouldn't believe everything they are saying. Does that mean finals will be easy-peazy and you don't need to study harder than you would for any other exam? Not necessarily. It's true that some professors make final exams more difficult than other exams that are given throughout the semester, just because they think a final is supposed to be that way. You should handle final exams with a little more care. However, there are so many ways to beat the finals-brain-blues and manage stress. So have no fear, I am (finally back) and here with some tips on how to have a successful final exams week.

1. Do not procrastinate. Say it with me now: DO. NOT. PROCRASTINATE.
That is how students do poorly on exams, or simply just stress out beyond what is necessary. Open up that Lily Pulitzer planner of yours and set tangible goals for the day. Ex-- Study: 9-11, Gym: 11:30-12:30, Lunch: 12:45-2, Facebook stalk cute guy from Psych: 2-2:05. (You get the gist.)
Creating specific goals and allowing yourself plenty of time to organize your studying will help you to not procrastinate. I must also add that using the application "Self Control" helps immensely-- it blocks your computer from using distracting social media websites for a set period of time. The app can be downloaded for free on the iTunes app store and is seriously a miracle worker. It will definitely help you concentrate and prevent distractions and procrastination.

2. Take breaks 
Nothing will stress you out more than studying all day without taking some time for yourself to do something enjoyable. Even if you think you are screwed for a test and that studying non-stop will help, I'm telling you that taking short breaks every couple of hours is necessary in controlling stress levels, and frankly, preventing temporary insanity. Even if it's just a 20 minute break to call a friend or watch a tv show, doing something besides studying will absolutely make you feel better and reduce your stress.

3. Get sleep
For those of you who are crammers and think that staying up all night before a test studying is going to benefit you, I'm sorry my friend, but you have been very misinformed. Studies actually show that you retain more information if you get a good night's sleep than if you stay awake studying all night. Staying awake awake for a long period of time is equivalent to the effects of a high blood-alcohol concentration on your body (weirdly enough). So, taking a test on no sleep is pretty equivalent to taking a few vodka shots before a test. I guess what I'm saying is to try to get at least 6 hours of sleep the night before a final, and you will be surprised at how much more you remember than if you were to stay up all night cramming.

4. Breathe for 10 minutes
I'm not kidding. I know it sounds weird. I'm in an industrial/organizational psychology class right now and we just learned that taking ten minutes out of your day to close your eyes, relax, and just breathe can greatly enhance test-taking performance. There was actually a study where students who were taking the GRE (the exam that you take to get into graduate school) had to take the exam after a couple of weeks of meditation for ten minutes per day, and those students averaged 75 points higher than those who did not meditate for ten minutes per day. Again, I know it sounds weird, but it's worth a shot.

So, don't worry so much about big, bad finals week. They'll be over in a blink, and before you know you will be home snuggling with your dog on your favorite living room couch, drinking hot cocoa and watching Spongebob.... TMI?

Good luck with finals! Until next semester...

Xo,
Maddy

It's that time of year: RUSH

The time has come, the moment you've all been waiting for, or maybe dreading, or maybe extremely nervous and excited and overwhelmed about, or maybe you could care less and you're just doing it because everyone else on your floor is and you thought, "why the hell not?": sorority recruitment.

Whether you have always dreamed about being in a sorority or you last minute decided to sign up because, really, you've got nothin' to lose, recruitment is a once-in-a-lifetime (or twice, if you decide to rush as a sophomore) opportunity that I am so happy I was able to experience for myself. I'm sure you've all been intently listening to your Rho Gams on types of outfits to wear, different conversation topics, directions and quickest routes on how to get to each house within 20 minutes... the list goes on and, well, it all may seem very overwhelming. It's like you have no idea how you're supposed to remember all this stuff and still be able to have 3 different 5-30 minute conversations at all 21 sororities. But trust me, it's not as scary as it sounds.

If I could give any advice to a freshman girl about IU rush, I would say do not worry so much. Be yourself. SMILE. Show the girls that you are here because you want to share a sisterhood, be philanthropic, make new friends,

Bid night!!

and most of all, find a part of yourself that you didn't know you had. The leader in you, or the kind friend in you, the girl who all her friends come to when they're upset, or the girl who is able to raise over $1,000 for Riley Children's Hospital for Dance Marathon. Maybe in high school you were the girl who was a varsity athlete or maybe the girl who hated sports but was a phenomenal student or artist or volunteer. Whatever it may be, those personal qualities are the things that you want to shine during rush, and trust me, they will be noticed if you let them.

Like I said, be yourself, relax, and have fun with it. Get excited because you are about to witness 21 different organizations that are filled with unique personalities and lifelong friendships. It is so true that you will see some trait in at least one sorority that reflects your own personality and if it's meant to be, you will call that house home soon enough.

With that said, get excited because RUSH IS 3 DAYS AWAY!!

Good luck with recruitment ;)

xx, Maddy