An Open Letter to Boston College Finals

Dear Boston College Finals,

Who do you think you are? Like seriously, who?

You always know how to creep up on us so quickly. This year you decided to be extra sneaky. You pretend like you’re nothing to worry about, a distant, far-away event that barely seems real. You even gave us a little break right before we need to buckle down and prepare for you this year, abreak for Easter that teased us with the taste of the comfort of home which so conveniently let us forget about you. All that just to drag us back to school and then BAM! Hit us upside the head with immense stress.

As soon as you come around, Finals, Boston College becomes a ghost town. I barely see anybody walking around or even eating in the dining halls. But once you step into the buildings, it looks like all of the BC population packed into any space it could. The floors of O’Neill and Bapst libraries completely fill up—every desk, table, couch, seat, corner—all taken.

Good luck trying to find a study spot. If students don’t wake up at the crack of dawn and get one or just stay there all night long, they’re not finding one. Every classroom is open for use during finals, too. Study groups and individuals run around desperately trying to find one once they realize the libraries are full. People are so protective over these rooms once they get them, they leave their stuff there for hours if they aren’t there and even stick notes on the doors that say “Taken.”

These rooms are like a needle in a haystack. When found, it’s like discovering some kind of incredible treasure. Others decide to stay in dorm lounges (also packed). But at least if there’s nowhere to sit, the dorm room is right around the corner so the walk filled with discouragement and frustration is short. At the end of the day there’s one thing to remember once you come around Finals…

Get a study spot, then don’t move.

Your tests, papers and projects all definitely cause stress. Some of them are harder than others, of course, like all the chemistry ones or the ones worth up to 50 percent of your grade. Some tests are cumulative, which is just the worst. And some papers have to be a ridiculous amount of words that are too scary to think about.

Everyone has that one final that they think is going to be their final demise, the one that very possibly could cost them their GPA or worse, their life. It’s dramatic, I know, but I can relate.

Everyone gets like that and all because of you, Finals.

Some lucky people have tests all nicely spread out over the week and a half period. While other not-so-lucky students take them all in the span of two days. Sometimes we take your tests on Saturdays, Finals. Saturdays! Days we are supposed to relax, days we look forward to for a nice break or more time to study, but no. You take them from us.

BC students survive on caffeine and no sleep to survive when you come around. We shift into over-overdrive and become academic power houses that just study all day. We even get free coffee in the dining halls. Everyone knows that we actually need it to make it through.

Over that coffee, you’ll hear us all complaining about how much work we have left, how many days we have left, how we are possibly slowly dying or how much we are just over it. You can also hear some comparative discussions surrounding how much more work we have than our friends and how much harder we work than them. It’s a way to make ourselves feel better or make ourselves feel like we are actually better as some twisted type of self-motivation.

All the hectic-ness and stressfulness fades away as soon we submit that last final paper or exam. The wave of relief that floods us is worth it.

It’s time to go home and feel grateful and thankful for the stress-free feeling. That’s one thing you really, truly make us appreciate, the feeling of being stress-free and the feeling of sleep. That feeling of getting home, dumping the bags on the ground and jumping onto the comfy couch or bed is a feeling of rejuvenation. It recharges the exhausted soul.

Although you really test our patience and our stress levels, you really make us work hard. Working that hard and being successful provides us with a feeling of pride in our ability—a plus side to everything we go through. I, personally, am not excited for you to come around finals season. But I am trying to get ready and I know the feeling of being done with the semester will be worth it.

So bring it on.

Sincerely,

A soon-to-be-stressed-out Eagle