College Tip 4: The Sophomore Slump is Real, So Try to Make Time to Study to Avoid it
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*The following is an excerpt from the poem “Over It (Burnout),” which is featured in my poetry collection.
Over It (Burnout)
It’s the day before
my last final of the semester,
and I can’t even
count how many
snaps I’ve gotten
this week
of people
at Grainger
saying,
“Why am I still here?”
sitting in the
yellow library chairs
at 4:30am.
You know
you’re in for an
all-nighter
if you’re
at Grainger.
That’s literally
just part of the
U of I experience.
Grainger is practically
synonymous with
death by
studying.
That’s so well-known
it should
be written
in the student code.
I stay away
from there
at almost
all costs.
Fortunately,
I work at the library
at the Ikenberry Commons,
which is all the way across campus.
Even other libraries
keep their distance
from Grainger.
I only have
two finals
this semester,
and I took
one of them
on Monday.
I made the mistake
of wearing my
blue Crocs
with socks
in the snow,
dousing my feet
with parcels of ice
the entire walk there.
But other than that,
the final wasn’t
terrible.
My last final
is about
the “rhetorical tradition,”
and honestly,
I’m a little nervous
for it,
especially considering
one portion
of the final
is dedicated
to writing an
800–1200 word essay
without using any notes.
If the professor
thinks I’m gonna sit there
counting every single word
of my essay
on the test packet,
then, he’s absolutely right.
Luckily, he gave us the prompt,
so I’m just gonna work ahead
and write out my essay
and memorize it.
That’s finals week for ‘ya!
But the thing is
we learned about so many
ancient people this semester,
and the only one
I remember is Plato.
One time in class,
I was so out of it
I literally said that I agreed
with the work of Aristocrates.
for those of you
who aren’t philosophy majors,
that’s not a real person.
Fortunately,
I’ve maintained a 3.8 GPA
or higher
every semester,
so even if I bomb this final,
I still have that to fall back on.
But I’m determined
not to flop.
Knowing I have
to know about
almost every ancient philosopher
for the final,
I whip out my Crocs again
and make the 5-minute trek
to the nearest coffee shop.
Even though it’s approaching 1pm,
I’m so mentally drained
that I have to get some caffeine in me.
This place
screams hipster,
littered with
succulents and stickers
that I always want
but never buy.
I don’t think
I pass the minimum
hipster requirement
to set foot in here.
But I do it anyway.
Passing coffee cups
on a wooden shelf,
I order some
bottomless coffee.
I don’t know
who thinks it’s
a good idea
to give me,
walking anxiety,
access
to bottomless coffee.
But that person
should seriously
have a long meeting
with the manager.
I take my coffee
and head to a long table.
The inner walls of
the coffee shops
are a white board.
Next to a portrait
of Mr. Krabs,
I write
“Don’t give up!
You can do it!”
in orange Expo marker.
Maybe I’ll believe it
if I look at it long enough.
*Note: Overall, I excelled academically during my freshman year. However, when sophomore year came, I got more involved on campus, and I became less motivated to do well academically as my social circle was expanding. When finals came, I tried to overcompensate for not doing as well as I had previously. While I was successful in doing so, I wish I had worked harder during the semester itself to avoid cramming. Regardless of how involved you get on campus, please make sure to put time aside for your studies. Although you’ll still need to study for your finals in some way or another, this will lead to less stress at the end of the semester.
In this article series, I share excerpts and stories from my book, Are These the Greatest Years?. I hope you enjoyed this post — if you enjoyed it and want to connect you can reach me here via email dominicrose50@gmail.com or connect with me on social:
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