Finals week is finally here, which means students have begun their doomsday preparations. MSMS provides many students with their first experience with finals, as many were in advanced courses and exempt from taking exams at their home schools.

Luckily for inexperienced juniors, seniors recently offered advice about how to deal with the upcoming week and all of the stress that comes with it.

Senior Dyllon Martin said he was one of the many students who came to MSMS without the experience of taking back-to-back rigorous exams and offered his advice on how to get through the week: prepare as much in advance as possible.  

“There was no such thing as finals week [at my home school]. Most of the tests we did have were in the final week of school, and I was either exempt from them or they were very simple,” Martin said. “[My first MSMS exam week] was absolute hell. Definitely prepare in advance; don’t do what I did and cram everything the night before the test. Have lots of energy drinks, unsafe amounts of coffee and save up your money because finals week is often the worst at the cafeteria, which means you’ll be starving.”

Senior Class Vice President CJ Jordan advised juniors to spend time with others.

“Exams were a lot. It was definitely a new experience that I had never really gone through before. It was just a lot all at once,” Jordan said. “Try not to go through it alone. It’s the worst thing you could do to yourself.”

Senior Claire Ellison said juniors should take time for themselves during exam week. Study groups, Ellison said, “are a good way to be social and not get yourself stressed out.”

 “You can’t cram 10 hours of studying into a day – max three hours a day. Everything else? Just sleep and have fun,” Ellison said.

Senior Blair Diffrient said going with the flow is the best mindset for students during the hectic week.

“If you’re not ready, it’s going to happen anyway,” Diffrient said. “All you can do is go along with it, but make sure you eat and definitely sleep. Don’t pull all-nighters; they’re going to fry your brain.”

Many seniors said finals week at MSMS is rough, and all had their own methods of coping with the stress. Nevertheless, many seniors agreed on one thing: the importance of relying on your peers and making time to be with your friends. 

“I remember there was this one night after the first round of finals on Thursday,” Jordan said. “We all just laid in the parking lot and stared at the stars, and we just sat there and nobody said a word. We just vibed because we had to.”