BY SUMMER CRANDALL

As the semester wraps up, students face the yearly double whammy, finals week colliding with grade deadlines. It’s a chaotic mix of determination, panic, and attempting to remember everything we learned since August.

The halls are quieter than usual, filled with students holding review packets like sacred texts.The WiFi is exhausted, and every Chromebook charger mysteriously disappears at the exact same moment. Teachers are in their own sprint, grading at record breaking speeds while answering emails that usually begin with, “Is there any way I can raise my grade by tomorrow?”

And then comes the legendary Extreme Test Day, the day when half the school is testing at once. Students shuffle in with coffee, confidence, or pure confusion. Sometimes all three. There’s the moment of silence before the test flips, the frantic scribbling, and the dramatic sighs afterward as everyone tries to calculate their score in their head.

But in the middle of all this chaos, it actually does help to remember a few science-backed tips. According to the American Psychological Association, spacing out study sessions even by a day  improves memory far more than last-minute cramming. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that teens who sleep 8–10 hours perform better on tests, make fewer mistakes, and stay more focused. And Harvard Medical School’s sleep researchers consistently report that even short breaks and hydration improve concentration and information recall during long study periods.

Finals week is stressful, but it’s also a universal bonding experience. Whether you’re reteaching yourself an entire unit at midnight or proudly finishing early, we’re all going through the same academic roller coaster. Just remember: breathe, sleep when you can, eat something other than vending machine snacks, and trust that you’ve made it this far for a reason.