Finals week is approaching fast and with that, stress is not far behind. Students and staff both struggle with the pressure of finals week.

When asked his opinion on finals week Assistant Professor of Journalism, Abhijit Mazumdar said “Well I think that there is two reasons why. One is a very general reason, all the courses that they are taking have major projects at the end of the semester. These projects mostly involve more work than an average assignment .  Secondly, there are so many students who procrastinate, not only do they have to finish their final project they also have one or two assignments that have not been handed in.”

Mazumdar also had an opinion on the stress students experience during finals. “Short term impacts, stress makes them more alert and makes them realize that they have to meet deadlines. It also gives them sleepless nights”

Student, Cynthia Clark stated when asked if she thinks test anxiety is real she answered “ Yes, it is real. I actually had a massive panic attack the other morning thinking about final exams, no matter how much study time or confidence in the subject, the fact you have to put months of knowledge into two hours is just intimidating. Also, since anxiety is contagious, being around other students who are also nervous about taking the exam, and knowing how much is riding on that one test, you feed off their anxiety too”

Anyone can get test anxiety but it is different for everyone. This has effected students for years before they reach college. Some people are confident and others not so much when it comes to walking in to a room and taking a test no matter how long they studied for.

“Yes, you cannot generalize it. It differs person to person because some people are confident and some people are not, some people are over confident. And I think that is bad cause when you have testing anxieties you will not be able to show your full potential and score what you should if you didn’t have the test anxieties,” Said Mazumdar.

Clark said “ Finals week affects me in so many ways, mainly, what I said above, the fact you have to put months of knowledge into a small amount of time can be very stressful and intimidating.”  We all know that finals week is coming at some point and try to prepare for it a head of time while trying to stay stress free, but when you get stressed out what do you do? Well Clark  said  “ What do I do to stay stress free? Honestly?  I cuddle my dogs, that’s the best anti-anxiety medicine ever. I also enjoy listening to my stupid 90’s gangster rap because it puts me in a good mood, along with the Burlesque soundtrack.”

Finals week is not just for students it is also stressful for the staff. Many of our staff members teach many classes and have to present a final and make time to grade everything before the year is over.

“Finals week affects me cause I have a lot of grading to do for the final projects, for example this semester I am teaching 6 courses and I have a final project due in all 6 courses and I have 2 courses where I have many students to grade. So finals week is obviously stressful for me too.” Said Mazumdar