Ah, so the time has come. College campuses everywhere are going to be silent, doom like places where the salt of tears are apparent and there is no supply of caffeine large enough satisfy those who rely on it.

Finals week has dawned upon all of us and it is not a happy place to be. Usually college campuses are happy places, the 20 somethings Disneyland if you will but during finals week, it is a dreaded area.

Usually I am one of those people pent up in the library for 10 hours a day, consuming endless amounts of chocolate and coffee, and counting down the days till I get to go home and do absolutely nothing. 

This semester, that will not be me and I am looking forward to it. I have one final that isn't cumulative, along with a silly photography presentation, and a photography paper due. Other than that, I am home free, able to pack in a timely manner and won't have to over stress about taking a measly test.

Just because I am not participating in this marathon does not mean that I don't know how it feels. Therefore, here a few helpful tips to get you through the week.

1. Organize yourself

Before you do anything, make a schedule--it'll make life a little easier. It's nice to be spontaneous once and a while but sometimes you just need a plan. Write down the days of your tests along with the times you will study for them. Having the times that you will be going to the library down on a piece of paper will make you more likely to go. Trust me. 

Organize your notes and study materials as well. Having separate folders and notebooks for each class, even color coordinating highlighting will help. During finals week it is completely acceptable for you to be over crazy and over organize.

2. Be ahead of the curve

Get ahead of yourself and start studying early. If your exams are jumbled together in the time span of two days, you are going to get stressed out a little more than if they were spread out. Don't panic, you can do this. Start studying for your hardest test first, even if it's the last one. Absorbing that difficult material will be easier if you start earlier than usual. Don't wait for last minute, even if you work better under pressure. Utilize that schedule and study as early as possible so later on, you could just refresh your memory instead of swamping it with new info.

3. Social Media=NO

This is definitely the hardest one for me; I LOVE social media...Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat--you name it, I have it and I'm obsessed. It's so hard for me to stay off of social media while studying but it is the biggest distraction I have. Leave your phone in your bag and try to use school computers instead of your own laptop so you don't have all your usernames and passwords saved and bookmarked. If you stay off of social media, you'll get a lot more studying done a lot faster.

4. Eat, Drink, Sleep

Even though it's finals week, you have to remember to live. You need to take breaks because sitting in the library for six hours straight is not going to help anyone. Stay hydrated with water because your body is going to go into caffeine overload, eat healthy but also treat yourself to some snack food, and get some sleep. Your body will work better when it's well rested. Pulling an all nighter the night before your huge final is not going to end well. Close the book and go to bed, your GPA will thank you.

Good luck to everyone on finals! Just think, you are one step closer to summer :)