Office of Academic Support hosts finals week seminar

Sydney Dietz, Contributing writer

On Tuesday April 20, Mercyhurst Academic Support hosted an online seminar that gave students tips and tricks about surviving finals. With finals approaching, these tips could be very beneficial. 

The first tip suggested at the seminar was to manage your time. Staying organized is important therefore gathering important dates and making a weekly calendar is a good way to prioritize the amount of time spent on each task. 

The second tip that was given was to use your resources. Professors are always willing to discuss class material to help students, which means attending office hours are a perfect way to gain assistance and understanding of class material. By discussing class topics with professors, not only will they explain the material but they will also finalize assignments and due dates. However, taking advantage of the tutoring center here on campus is also a great way to prepare for finals as well. 

Some study tips stated at the seminar were creating flashcards and quizlets along with rewriting notes and making your own study guide. With a large amount of time being spent studying and preparing for finals, it is important to take time to care for yourself as well. Making time for breaks, exercising, eating healthy, and getting enough sleep are just a few examples of how you can take care of yourself while preparing for finals week. Avoiding procrastination can relieve stress and also better prepare you for finals. It is recommended that students break up big projects into smaller tasks, and also find a place and time that works the best for studying. 

At the seminar, tips were also given for taking the test. Some test-taking strategies that were mentioned were cycling through your test, examining test questions, managing your stress, and reflecting on your work. These four strategies allow students to be calm while taking the test, which could also lead to better test results. The best way to cycle through your test is to start with surveying your test. Then answer questions you know right away and skip the ones you are unsure of. After, answer questions that may require more time and leave the questions you’re unsure of answering for last. When reading the test questions, it is beneficial to take your time while reading each question to see what it is really asking and also crossing out choices to eliminate some of the answers. 

At the end of the test it is good to go back and reflect on your work. Review your answers and do not leave anything blank, then when you are confident in your work turn the test in. Finals week can be a stressful time for any student but with the appropriate studying and test-taking tactics, finals week may not be as difficult. Best of luck with finals week Lakers!