So here we are, back from a nice, long weekend. The semester marches on, which means most of us are either in the midst of a round of exams or heading toward them. That’s right—it’s time for midterms. It’s also time to start thinking about how you’re taking care of your body.
We’ve said often enough that you need to take care of yourself, especially when you’re facing exams. It should be obvious at this point that your mental state is heavily dependent on how you’re treating yourself, and your performance on projects, homework, and exams is affected by your state of mind.
It’s important to keep yourself in good shape at the end of the semester, when you’re heading into finals and scrambling to complete assignments, but it’s equally important now, if not more. If you push yourself to the limit before finals, you may not do as well, but at least you have time afterward to crash and build up your strength; after midterms you need to hit the ground running again. And if you’re already pushing yourself now, imagine what you’ll have to do at the end of the semester, when things really get difficult.
If you’re having trouble keeping up with your work, now is the time to look for solutions. Find friends in your classes that you can work with. Seek help from your LA or visit the Learning Center. Talk to your TAs to see if there are easier ways to do what you’re doing. If worst comes to worst, there are some things that you don’t need to do perfectly—instead of obsessing about the details, use your valuable time elsewhere.
