Tips for making a smooth transition into your post-finals life
Photo by Marta Kierkus
Exercise and winter sports
Embrace the season. Play a game of hockey with friends, go snowshoeing, or hit the slopes for some skiing or snowboarding. The holiday season brings out the kid in everyone, so embrace the opportunity to get out there and let loose like you’re 10.
—Clare Yacyshyn
Reaching out to friends
The week after exams is an excellent time to reach out to friends you may have lost touch with during the exam period. You’ll have lots to catch up on, and celebrating the end of exams will feel amazing after all the work you’ve done.
—Clare Yacyshyn
Find inner peace
I like to boil my favourite tea, sit down with my laptop, and re-blog endlessly on Tumblr. Then I’ll grab my snacks and watch some of my favourite YouTubers. At some point I’ll grab that book I’ve been meaning to read for ages, boil my tea again, and peacefully read without having to worry about anything. Serenity of the mind is well deserved.
—Menrika Christian
Read for fun
My favourite thing to do is veg out on comfort books that I don’t have to try too hard to appreciate. It’s important to remember that academia doesn’t hold a monopoly over your life, and certainly not over interesting literature. Resist all temptation to highlight or write in the margin and let your brain calmly read, and blissfully forget.
—Jesse Colautti
Pick a song
Every semester I preselect a song that will be the first thing I listen to when I get out of my last exam. Last spring it was the theme song to Jurassic Park; the winter before that was “Fortunate Son” by CCR. The hard part is resisting the temptation to listen after finishing some of my earlier exams, but the pay-off of waiting is worth it.
—Jesse Colautti
