The quarter system is brutal. The quick 10 weeks of arduous work doesn’t allow much time for relaxation. Because of this, it is common to find yourself in a funk or small crisis in the weeks before finals. This is a tough time, but here are four ways to help you survive it:
Make time for relaxation
You’ve probably been told this before—whether by friends, family or faculty—but you need to relax. In college this is easier said than done. The pressures of academic work, actual occupational work. The seemingly necessary need to go out every night can make it hard to find solace and relaxation. Relaxation is key to repairing the human psyche. It is the most important thing we can do for ourselves in terms of mental health. While the urge to go out every night at the end of the week can be very strong, sometimes it can be a very good thing to stay in one night. Watch some Netflix, listen to good music or munch on snack food. DU offers multiple opportunities to help students relax. For instance, the Ritchie Center offers yoga classes every day of the week to help one unwind and stay fit. If stress is really getting to you though, the HCC offers group stress management therapy sessions. We all have stress, and it is important that no matter what you do, you can find yourself comfortable and unstimulated when need be.
Get off campus
College can be a bubble, and we sometimes forget that outside our little colony of academia there is a very large and interesting world. A great way to escape from your mid-quarter crisis is to get physically away from it for a while. Whether it’s a day trip to the mountains or visiting friends at another Colorado university, getting away for a while can ease the mind and bring much needed reflection. If you don’t have the means to travel that long of a distance, taking the train to downtown to explore or dine can be a great way to distance oneself from the stress of school for a while. Going out can be cheap too, all full-time DU students have the ability to take RTD anywhere for free with our student pass.
Exercise
Colorado is a health-crazed state and DU by all means follows in those footsteps. If exercise has never been a priority in your past, now might be the time to pick it up. Of course this might seem like just an additional stress and commitment, but by and large the benefits outweigh any drawbacks. Simply running for 20 minutes can help relieve stress, boost energy and give you time for self-reflection. While exercise might not be inherently relaxing, it can have the same effect. Don’t be worried though—getting exercise does not mean you have to be hitting the gym for four hours every night, it can be as simple as taking a longer bike ride to class or going by foot somewhere you would usually take other means of transportation.
Plan ahead
One of the best ways to handle a late-quarter crisis is to plan ahead. The distance between midterms and finals, while theoretically the same as the distance between the start of the year and midterms, seems much shorter in comparison. Because of this, right now is the time to plan for the next couple weeks. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but it can be a major stress reliever to plan out and list all the assignments, activities, events, etc. that you have for the rest of the year. The sense of organization is a major help to a midterm-damaged psyche.
If feelings of stress are starting to overwhelm and depress you, it can never hurt to go to the HCC and get any kind of help you need. The center offers both private and group counseling for an array of situations. Your mental and physical health are the most important things to take care of; if you need help, get it.
