Stress of Midterm Madness

Stefanie Chun
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

It’s the third week of classes and I already feel the first of many breakdowns coming down upon me. Would you believe me if I said that for one class I’ve only had three lectures in three weeks and already have a midterm next week?

Something I’ve learned during my time as an undergraduate is that the definition of midterms is a lie. By definition, one would assume midterm means middle of an academic term — as in a single test in the middle of the semester. Reality is far from that unfortunately (at least for most STEM majors). My abnormal psychology course and biological disease course both have four midterms. It’s a midterm season that start upon the first midterm and just doesn’t end until the start of finals — emphasis on the start. I’ve had a midterm on the very last day of class before which leads me to wonder, what could you possibly test me on during the final that is 3 days later?

That being said, students aren’t going to get away without having exams as it is fundamental to the education system. However, it is important to acknowledge the increasing demands of college students who are reportedly more stressed now than previous generations. Extreme levels of stress and anxiety can hinder the student’s academic performance and effectiveness. From an OT perspective, their occupational performance and participation is negatively affected and they are unable to fulfill their role as a student. Thus it’s incredibly important to implement stress coping strategies as well as time management strategies.

Through the past couple of semesters at USC, I’ve developed a treasure box of techniques and tools to help myself prevent and reduce my stress and anxiety. A lot of these I’ve found through many of the OT courses I’ve taken but some are also from my brief time at academic coaching. I highly recommend checking to see if your school offers academic coaching (or similar resources) because even if you think you are doing fine, you may discover a few new tricks that could help you.

To start off, acknowledging how you manage your time is the first step to improving your stress levels. Although this worksheet may seem a bit elementary for a college student, the balance wheel is a great visual representation of how you spend your time. There are four categories you can use to label how you spend your time: 1) productivity 2) rest 3) play and 4) self-care. Often times what you will notice is that productivity takes up most of your time, followed by a bit of rest, and very minimal amounts of play or self-care. No wonder your stress levels are so high and not lowering, you aren’t taking time to nurture yourself. Now you want to consider, how could I possibly increase time for play and self-care. Play & self-care are one of the most effective ways to lowering stress and anxiety levels. Studies have shown that partaking in enjoyable occupations — such as art or physical exercise — are effective in reducing anxiety.

Other free resources/techniques I’ve found useful are listed below:

For scheduling, to-do lists, and organization

  • Google Keep
  • Remember the Milk
  • Google Calendar

For productivity

  • 30 / 30
  • Productive
  • FocusMe
  • Developing a study plan

For self-care…

  • Meditiation
  • Yoga
  • Art (watercolor, etc.)
    Stefanie Chun

    Written by

    USC ‘19