With finals week and the end of the semester quickly approaching, the stress seems to just keep building up to the point of explosion. Here are some ways that you can remind yourself that you can do whatever you set your mind to, that you are stronger than you may think, and that it’s just as important to love yourself as it is to pass your exams.

1. Remember to take a break; we all want to work hard towards graduating with our degrees, but sometimes we forget that we’re humans. Feel free to take a break, even just a small one, to get coffee, grab some food, talk to your friends, or just close the textbook and scroll through social media for a bit.

2. Write in a journal; sometimes it might be difficult to get your thoughts out in a vocal way. But writing allows you to get everything out and no one will judge you for what you write because it’s a journal, it can’t talk back. You might be feeling like people around you don’t understand what you’re going through, but at least if you write it out it’s not swirling around in your head and driving you crazy anymore.

3. Talk to someone; maybe writing isn’t your thing and talking works better for you. Ask a friend to meet for lunch, visit a favorite professor during office hours, or even make an appointment with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) on campus. There are so many people to talk to and who are willing to listen.

4. Take a couple of extra minutes for yourself; it’s amazing how a couple of minutes in the morning before class to listen to a favorite song or read a couple of pages in a good book can dramatically improve your mood. 

5. Call your parents. Or your siblings. Grandparents. Friends who go to a different school and you don’t get to see all the time; we all get homesick, whether we want to admit it or not. Sometimes you just need to hear a familiar voice, or see a familiar face on FaceTime, to feel better about yourself.

6. Write encouraging sticky notes for yourself; and leave them around your dorm or apartment or car. Just a simple quote that means a lot to you or a nice little ‘you can do it!’ note for yourself. It is easy to forget that we are our own cheerleaders sometimes and we all make for some pretty awesome ones at that.

7. Know that it’s okay to not be okay; being stressed is a totally normal thing. College wouldn’t be college if you didn’t stress out about finals week. It’s fine that you’re feeling a lot of things, maybe not all of them positive, but you’re not alone and there are so many other people who are in the same boat as you.

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