Word on the Street: How students are preparing for finals

Final exams are quickly approaching, and UNC students are beginning to break out their best — and strangest — study habits. Here is some advice from UNC students on how to make it through finals week unscathed.

Staff writer Samantha Nichols asked students: “What do you do to keep yourself sane during finals?"

Kyla Roerty, junior business administration major

“Start earlier than you think you need to because it gets really overwhelming, especially when you have four or five finals. It sounds crazy, but start a week before finals week and just take it day by day instead of trying to do 10 hours in one day.”

Alexis Plemmons, junior biology and medical anthropology major

“If you study all the time you’re going to be burned out by the time you get to your exam. But, if you take breaks and do something that makes you happy, it will help keep you engaged when you study and just make finals more enjoyable overall.”

Haiden Berton, sophomore neuroscience and chemistry major

“You will do well if you have a positive mindset about it. And if you take time to just chill out and you take breaks, get outside every once in a while, exercise and eat well — then you’ll do well.”

George Hill, junior exercise and sport science major

“The biggest thing I try to do is just stay even-keeled through it all. Don’t get too high or too low, kinda just control what you can control, wait for the day and study as hard as you can.”

Gemma Diaz, sophomore environmental science major

“There are toys that kids use for fidgets, but I buy them — they have little cartoons on them — and I pop them, and it feels really good when I’m stressed out.”

Cierra Redden, junior exercise and sport science major

“Pet a dog, hang out with your friends, take time to de-stress. It’s a small part of your life. It may seem big right now, like you’ve got to do good or the whole world is gonna end, but ultimately it’s gonna go well.”

Ilan Socolovsky-Hull, sophomore biology major

“Don’t stay up until 2 a.m. every night — that’s not good for you. Sleep before your exam, eat before your exam.”

Tara Samtmann, junior exercise and sport science major

“Finding people in your class and doing study groups with them (helps). We found it really helpful to reserve study rooms at the UL(Undergraduate Library), and then you study a little bit before and if you have any questions write them down, so when you guys study together, you can help answer each other.”

Morgan Thompson, first-year business major

“Make yourself a nice study playlist of songs that you like but that you can study to that are calm.”

Gibson Weber, senior political science and public policy major

“Study as best as you can during the day but once it gets to 11 or 12 o’clock at night, just hit the hay, go to bed. Trust that you’ll do good, you’re smarter than you think and you’ll perform well.”

@dailytarheel

university@dailytarheel.com