As we enter the December holidays, college students everywhere are also about to complete their final papers and course projects, and to begin to prepare for their final exams. No matter how many end-of-semesters they may have under their collective belts, many students experience stress as the semester winds down (though many perceive it to be a wild ride, even a train wreck).

Why does this happen? For many reasons. First, some students wait too long before beginning to think about navigating their end games (papers, projects, exams). Second, the lore surrounding the finals period may be more hyped than real, but regardless of its reality, it still triggers stress. Third, some students assume stress is part and parcel of the finals experience—a rite of passage, if you will.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. I don’t want to be a scold and suggest that students should “stay on top of papers and projects and exams,” though I do think that’s wise advice. Instead, I believe that students should take a page from positive psychology, the subfield that examines how human strengths can promote well-being, by reframing their attitudes about final exams. Rather than viewing the experience as a rollercoaster of stress, why not look at time as being an opportunity to be grateful?

Quite simply, gratitude entails being thankful for something, including showing appreciation for something or someone or even returning a kindness. How does that fit into finals? Well, here are some reasons students might reframe how they think and feel about the final exam period.

These and other items to be grateful for can help you enter the end of the semester fray with a positive attitude rather than a stressed or negative one. How we think about such things has a profound effect on how we cope with them. Be grateful for the opportunity to have a final exam period. Happy holidays!

QOSHE - Reframing the Final Exam Period - Dana S. Dunn Ph.d
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Reframing the Final Exam Period

6 0
05.12.2023

As we enter the December holidays, college students everywhere are also about to complete their final papers and course projects, and to begin to prepare for their final exams. No matter how many end-of-semesters they may have under their collective belts, many students experience stress as the semester winds down (though many perceive it to be a wild ride, even a train wreck).

Why does this happen? For many reasons. First, some students wait too long before beginning to think........

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