For those of us who are to young to experience the adventures of the mid-life crisis, we have the great joy and privilege of the mid-Term crisis. If you thought that picture day was bad, well let me clue you in on something, mid-terms are a series of days that can’t even compare with picture day. Those of you familiar with Facebook know that Flairs are witty sayings and phrases that you can send to your Facebook friends. One of my friends Jennah Austin, a freshman at VCS, sent me this one “Ever notice how ‘Studying’ is ‘Student’ and ‘Dying’ put together?” Some of you are like me and know exactly how studying feels: “My brain cells are slowly dying, individually, excruciatingly, painfully dying.” One of the few, more pleasant things about mid-terms is the fact that on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we get out of school early.

Mid-terms don’t have to be terrifyingly nightmarish. If you take the proper steps and actually follow the suggestions of those who have gone before and use the study guides, you might make it out of the jungle. Believe it or not, studying can be useful, yes I, a student currently enrolled in a private school, said that studying can be useful. Here are some tips that might be helpful.

Manage your time. Set an allotted time to study and abide by it, don’t go past it and don’t quit before it.

Set a reasonable goals for yourself. How would you like to do and how do you think that you will do? How much time will it take to make up the difference?

Don’t procrastinate. Do your studying before the two nights previous your tests.

And get HELP. Don’t be ashamed to ask for help in the subjects that you are most unsure of. Teachers love to help students who initiate.

Don’t get overly stressed.

Don’t succumb to the overwhelming sense of dread and doom that seems to overcome the majority of students. As the comedian/actor Bill Murray says in his film What About Bob, “Baby steps, Bob. Baby steps.” Don’t try to do it all at once; take small steps and study in increments. Take your time on your tests and DON’T PANIC. That sense of “OH MY GOD, I WILL NEVER REMEMBER ALL OF THIS!!!”, will not be as prominent if you prepare. Good luck and, if you’re like me and have already failed to do most of these steps, then use flashcards and acronyms. And there’s always Finals…O Joy.

For more tips and strategies here are some sites to go to: www.studygs.net, www.how-to-study.com, www.allacademic.com, www.adprima.com/studyout, or ask your teacher how to prepare for his or her class. They can also give you sites and strategies.

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