By Andrea James
Finals week is a dark time that happens regularly in a college student’s life, and sometimes you just need a little help coping. Well, the internet and I are here to help! Below are just a few ideas to get you through it.
- Take care of yourself. Mental health and physical health affect each other. Staying up all night, eating junk food, and skipping meals only hinders your ability to learn and recall information, makes stress and/or anxiety worse, and generally make you feel awful. The same goes for worrying about grades or overtaxing your brain to the point your physical health is negatively impacted and you get sick. You’ve heard a thousand times, but I’ll say it again anyway: get enough sleep, eat regular healthy meals, drink plenty of water, and make time for some exercise. It really does make a huge difference.
- Look at cute/funny things. According to Upworthy.com, looking at baby animals has actually been shown to improve focus, concentration, and productivity. Humor has even been shown to help with retention of material, according to an article on Edutopia.org.
- Procatinator (cat videos set to music)
- Attack of the Cute (pictures and videos of animals being adorable)
- Nature Cheer Up Post Masterlist (for general happiness, but also contains many pics and gifs of animals being adorable and/or hilarious)
- Animal Livestreams (basically what it says—livestreams of animals)
- Do something nice for someone else—it makes you feel good, and improves someone else’s life as well.
- Click to Donate (free, each click raises money for charity)
- Click to Give to Veterans (same sort of thing, but specifically for homeless veterans)
- Read about nice things other people have done/experienced.
- Gives Me Hope (stories that give people hope)
- MyLifeIsG (stories of when life is good)
- Take a deep breath and find a way to relax, even if only for a little bit.
- Do Nothing for 2 Minutes (take a two minute break to do nothing but listen to ocean waves and stare at a sunset)
- Calm (free mindfulness meditation app with realistic scenes complete with appropriate sounds, like waves crashing on a beach at sunrise or a crackling wood fireplace)
- Talk to someone—God, a friend, family member, counselor, etc. Whoever you are most comfortable with. Or if you want something more anonymous, there are many hotlines/helplines and online resources available.
- Masterlist of Helplines/Hotlines/Online Chat Rooms
- 7cups (free, anonymous, and confidential online counseling)
- Emotional Baggage Check (choose to give away your emotional baggage or carry someone else’s for them—both are anonymous)
- Make Everything OK (click a button to make everything okay)
The Career & Counseling Center at PUC also offers free counseling sessions to current PUC students. Call (707) 965-7080 or email counseling@puc.edu to make an appointment.
Good luck with your finals. Take care of yourself. Have faith in yourself and that God will provide!