This Just In: Dead Week Not Living Up to Expectations

Happy dead week, y’all.

Between the numerous term papers and overload of informations professors “forgot” to teach over the last 14ish weeks, I think everyone’s just a little tuckered out… professor, student, and blogger alike. Motivation is low and stress is high, and here I am live-blogging my first experience with dead week.

First off, this is not a week where everyone just pretends that they’re super stressed and all we jokingly text each other is the skull emoji. Dead week is a very real thing. Even if you don’t have a lot to do (realistically I could be doing one heck of a lot worse homework wise) things still aren’t the greatest as everyone is stressed and frazzled because of the impending storm of multiple choice and short answer nonsense finals will bring next week. Things get forgotten, you stay up extra late to proof that paper one more time, and sometimes you eat all of the snacks in your room because the dining hall is just a little too far away for you to want to leave your room.

So, in the spirit of the struggle we are all having to endure this week–keep in mind I’m writing this with hot tea spilled all over my thigh–I’m just gonna tell you everything I wish I would have known about dead week and the semester’s end.

1. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A ‘TERM PAPER’ DOES NOT MEAN YOU DON’T HAVE A FINAL!
I made that mistake. Term papers oftentimes do not take the place of finals. That’s right, there is a chance that you will have to write several 6-7 page papers (MLA format will be your new best friend) all due within a lovely three day time slot. It’s not awful if you just power through and get them done.

2. YOUR ‘STUDY BREAKS’ ARE NOT ACTUALLY STUDY BREAKS.
Sorry for the shouty capitals, but this is important stuff. Your study breaks, formally known as the time where you allow yourself to text for twenty minutes and watch that next episode of New Girl, will not actually be fun. Your idea of a fun study break is to stop writing your philosophy paper and instead proof read your english one. That, my friends, is a study break during dead week.

3. WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE AND WHY ARE THERE NO MORE STUDY SPOTS IN THE IC ANYMORE?
I really thought people were kidding when they said that students that you’ve never seen before suddenly appear on campus during the week before finals. Turns out, they were indeed telling the truth. Study spots are fast to fill up. So either get there early, or be flexible with your study spots. (Explore around Loyola a bit! There are lots of places that don’t mind you coming in and studying as long as you make a purchase, however big or small.) My favorites to just bring my laptop and work on papers include Engrained Cafe, Metropolis Coffee Company, The Coffee Shop, and Dak. Grab yourself something to drink and study for a bit. A change of location is sometimes what I need to regain some motivation.

The silver lining to this entire dead week thing is the sooner that we get this week and the next over with, the sooner we get to go home and sleep in until noon everyday, or if you choose to be a functioning adult, work so you can pay your tuition.  Regardless, it’s already Wednesday, power through like the champion you are and you’ll definitely be okay.

Best of luck, and may the term papers be easy and the tests be short!