Final exam time is looming on the horizon at Mississippi State University and with the exams come bags under students’ eyes, a boom in coffee sales and, most of all, stress only final exams can bring. Tom Woodruff, a staff psychologist at the MSU Counseling and Testing Center, said many students come to the center to seek help in dealing with exam stress.
“Things pick up, typically, the final month of every semester,” Woodruff said. “It’s usually not the actual week of finals; it’s the three or four weeks preceding that when people kind of realize that they’ve fallen behind or start to feel a little pressure from their situation.”
Woodruff said some students use avoidance as a coping mechanism and pay the price later.
“We have some students not go to class or not show for an exam. They end up sleeping or going out partying-things like that-as opposed to doing class work or studying,” he said. “For some people, (avoidance) is a way of avoiding the stress of having to think about their situation. For some people, it’s easier not to think about it than to go through the stress of attacking it or studying or getting their papers knocked out.”
Woodruff said there are also more serious methods of avoidance, such as drug use and heavy drinking as methods of escape.
“I’m all for escapes, but I think we should make sure they are healthy ones,” he said. “Going up to the (Noxubee) Refuge is a very healthy, positive escape. Even going to the ballgame-that’s an escape.”
Woodruff said the counseling center staff encourages students to deal with exam stress in positive ways. He said the best way for most students to tackle exam stress is to set time aside, talk with their professors, make themselves aware of exactly what they need to do and then develop a reasonable plan to do that. However, he also warned that students need to allow for time to relax.
“There needs to be some sort of balance,” he said. “By that I mean we’re studying, but we’re also having some breaks with that.”
In fact, the center is sponsoring The second Annual Evening of Readings From Dr. Seuss as a positive way for students to take a break from studying. April 24, at 7 p.m., Various MSU faculty members will read selections from the works of Dr. Seuss in the Colvard Student Union Ballroom.
“This is the second year we’ve done these Dr. Seuss readings,” Woodruff said. “It’s fun getting a chance to see professors, administrators and coaches in another light. It’s not your typical interaction with your professors.
“I think it would be a fun tradition to provide a positive counterbalance to all the stress that’s going on during the finals,” he said. “And, we give free milk and cookies,” he added with a laugh.
Junior Angela Smith, a psychology major, said she likes to eat and take frequent study breaks when studying for exams.
“If I’ve studied for three hours, I have to have at least a 30 minute break. I also try to study at least a week in advance,” she said.
MSU freshman Joey Fritz, an aerospace engineering major, said he has a simple plan to relax.
“Heavy metal rock and sleep; that’s about it,” he said.