Dead Week is…well, Dead
In the past four years that I have been here at Marshall, I’ve often wondered why the week before finals is called Dead Week. Some of my friends think that it’s called Dead Week because everyone feels so dead just the week before finals. Some think it’s because you’ll be lucky to be alive by the end of the week because you’ve spent the week working to get everything accomplished before finals. Professors will tell you that this is the week they can’t assign students any additional work that wasn’t already included on their syllabus.
Typically, this week does signal that I’ll be extraordinarly busy with finishing last minute papers and projects. But, for the first time in my undergraduate career, I do not have anything due this Dead Week. Nothing. Not a paper. Not a presentation. Not a random quiz or exam. I am officially three finals away from my summer break which will begin on May 8. For graduating seniors, they are just a little over a week away from graduation which is May 9.
So, what am I doing while all of my friends rush around finishing last minute assignments? I’m laying on my couch and preparing hundreds of note cards for my huge Media Law final next Wednesday. Not to mention that as I lay on my couch, I am also reviewing and revising my notes for my ISC 280 class. And this weekend’s agenda? Reviewing and revising my PSC 105 notes. While I might not be writing papers or giving presentations, I’m still in the middle of trying to make it to May 8.
While I’m blogging, for anyone college student or graduating senior who may be reading this, I want to point out the importantance of not getting stressed out. Being stressed out can leave you feeling sick, something I know quite well. Last week, I began experiencing pain in the center of my spine, followed by a rash. The pain became so severe that I had to stop at Student Health, which is just minutes from our campus, to see a doctor. Her diagnosis? Shingles. Shingles at the age of 22. Thankfully, she prescribed me some antiviral medication that I picked up at a pharmacy nearby and my back is feeling tons better than it was this time last week. She said my shingles outbreak could have been caused by high levels of stress; so, take note: don’t stress out. It’s not worth it.