I am happy to announce that I have just successfully completed my mid-term marathon! And by that, I mean that I have had 3 midterms in 3 days and it is finally over! This is without a doubt one of the craziest times in the quarter. Everyone is scrambling to find time to study and learn all the material they forgot from the first half of the year.  Every quarter it seems like mid-terms sneak up on you when you are least expecting them! Often people talk about how stressful finals week is, and how much studying they have to do. Personally, I find the middle of the quarter much more stressful. During finals week there are no classes and no activities so you can fully commit to studying. But in the middle of the quarter, nothing stops for mid-terms. You still have your full course load, as well as your extracurricular activities! You have to find time to study around all of these commitments.

I have to admit that I do find it stressful, but over the course of my time here I have learned to cope much better than I did at first. There are some strategies and things you can do that really put things in perspective. When mid-terms roll around people stop going to their clubs and activities, and they stop hanging out with friends because they want to use the time to study. I have found that this can be the opposite of what you need to do. A couple breaks can be very healthy and will make the time that you are actually studying more productive. Also, when you know that you have commitments or things you want to do it ensures that you adequately budget your time for studying and that when you are studying you are not distracted by things like Facebook! I think the most important thing about studying for mid-terms is to not get too stressed. Taking some time off to hang out with friends, go to your clubs, volunteer, or even going to a movie can make you feel much more relaxed and refreshed.  It is also really good to have a reward waiting for you at the end of mid-terms. For me it was my upcoming trip to Bear Valley with my friends this weekend that helped me get through the last couple of days, and I am sure it will be an amazing trip. I cannot wait to blog about it next week!