Published December 9, 2025
BY GRACE GRAHL
As the holiday season approaches, many students dream of desserts, partridges in pear trees and sugarplums dancing, but finals week feels like a snowbank to your winter fun. Here are five practical ways to finish off the first half of the school year strong.
Go to sleep!
Staying up until 1 a.m. to play Clash Royale won’t help your nightly eight hours—or your non-existent tower. Try charging your phone at night outside of your room; it might help you sleep longer, and you may even be more awake in class.
Use scent or taste association
While there are no concrete studies around scent and taste association, it has personally helped me before. Try a spritz of a Bath and Body Works perfume or chewing Extra Gum while studying and at test time to help aid recollection from memory. Plus, the vanilla or mint refreshes your mind and taste buds.
Don’t procrastinate
Waiting until the night before to pull out your study guide to “see what you know” will only show you how much you don’t. Instead of last minute studying AP World or Honors Economics, cover one to two topics per day a week before finals to thoroughly study the material and prevent you from throwing an impromptu all-nighter.
Use a reward system
Often reward systems get discredited because after 15 minutes of studying comes a two-hour doomscroll break. Study for a decent period of time, but when you start to get tired or the words blur, give yourself a 15-minute break with a snack or a trip to Starbucks for a Strawberry Acai Refresher. Try to stay off your phone during the break to prevent getting sucked into a conspiracy-theory rabbit hole.
Study at school
There are many opportunities to study during school hours such as office hours and Cookies and Cram. Office hours is the best way to get one-on-one help answering questions before finals week. Cookies and Cram is Dec. 11 after school, giving you a chance to study in the library and receive a sweet treat!
