Dead week: students gear up for finals

It was a Friday night in Herman B Wells Library, but people kept streaming in. The tables were covered in sandwiches and Starbucks, Monsters and Mother Bear’s. Cell phones and laptops and iPod cords wove together.

The victims — students with bleary eyes and wrinkled foreheads — stared at screens. They were hunkered down with their provisions, and they were there to stay.

As the semester winds down, students are faced with more stress than ever. They have papers to write, projects to finish and finals to prepare for. It’s a tough time, and it can lead to poorer health and excess stress.

Sophomore Lily Mummert was starting the battle. She sat with her knees tucked up to her chest at a desk against the plain library wall. Her computer was open, and her textbook, “Ready-to-Wear Apparel Analysis,” was propped on her lap. She had been on the fourth floor for almost six hours.

Mummert was working on a PowerPoint for her apparel class, the first of many projects she has during dead week.

To get through, Mummert said she likes to make time for friends and take breaks. She ordered lunch from Dagwood’s that day as a treat.

Still, Mummert said the stress of finals can get to students.

Dr. Diana Ebling, medical director of the IU Health Center, said health can be a problem during stressful times in the semester. Less focus on eating right can lower immune systems, and students don’t take time to rest.

Senior Hannah Hunt said she knows well how finals stress can take a toll on health. During her sophomore year, she stayed up for 36 hours studying for three tests she had in one day.

She got through with strong black coffee, but she felt the effects physically and mentally. Now, as a senior, she’s vowed not to live through that again.
Hunt said managing time and avoiding cramming can help.

Sleep, though, is non-negotiable.

“Starting junior year, I made myself get sleep,” she said. “I think you can miss exercise and eating right, but sleep is what you’ll go crazy without.”

Ebling said all-nighters are often part of what taxes students’ health. If staying up late is necessary, she recommends planning time during the next few days to sleep more.

Senior and University Information Technology Services employee Gary Snee works in the library, and he said you can always tell when finals hit. The atmosphere is tense and quiet, and most of the computers are taken until 2 a.m.

As a student, Snee said he relies on his dubstep Pandora station and cramming.

He tries to plan, but he said it’s easy to fall back on energy drinks and his headphones. He said this kind of lifestyle often leads to staying up all night, falling asleep in class and getting jittery.

Ebling said this kind of diet can be a problem. Students don’t have as much time to cook and often turn to fast food. She recommends staying hydrated and packing healthy snacks to get through the day.

She said caffeine is often needed but should not be overdone.

Too much coffee or too many energy drinks can make you nauseous and cause heart palpitations, which just make studying harder in the long run.

Overall, Ebling said she knows finals time is a stressful time, and students won’t live up to the ideal routine. Still, she said they should try to utilize the more realistic tips.

The good news, she said, is most students return to their normal stress levels quickly after the tests end. Thankfully, that’s only two weeks away.