Coming To The End
Wow, it’s hard to believe that the school year is soon coming to an end.
All of us on the Alcohol & Other drugs team have really enjoyed bringing these blogs to you and getting the opportunity to share all of this information so that YOU can be empowered to make healthy choices during your time at YorkU (and beyond)!
This is our last blog of the school year (tear, tear) but before we go, we want to leave you with some info pertaining to alcohol and drugs that will sum up some of our important points throughout the year and help you get through that very last challenge of the school year…final exams!
If you are scared of upcoming final exams, you are definitely not alone! There is a lot of pressure that we put upon ourselves and that others put upon us to perform exceptionally well on our exams. It’s especially hard to focus on studying for finals at the end of the year when we have just finished classes and may be feeling burned out from all the work we have done so far.
Did you know that:
According to the University of Georgia Health Center, stress due to finals accounts for one of the top reasons why university students try using drugs and alcohol
Alcohol and other drugs can actually contribute to more stress as they may cause health, impairment and legal problems
If you have a habit of relying on alcohol and other drugs to get you through exams, or if you are thinking of doing that, here are some other things that you might want to try before hand.
1) Have something to look forward to each day.
When you make a plan to spend a full day studying, you know that the day is going to be super boring so you probably procrastinate as much as you can to avoid the ultimate borefest, BUT if you have something to look forward to, whether that be meeting up with a friend, watching a movie, baking up a treat, going for a nice walk in this sunny weather or whatever it may be, you’ll find you’re more motivated to get some work done so that you can enjoy.
Click this link to take a look at a previous post that has more study tips and resources to help you succeed
http://alcedforyu.tumblr.com/post/112148971026/whats-the-deal-with-study-drugs
2) Don’t give up your sleep.
During exam time, you may think it’s best to cram cram cram and pull an all nighter to get every fact memorized from your textbook. This will do more harm than good. Your brain needs time to process the information overnight, so do your brain a favour and get some sleep EARLY so that you can relax and recuperate, while your brain does the real hard work in storing all that info that you know.
If you struggle to fall asleep due to feelings of nervousness that are common during exam time, check out this link to another one of our posts for some sleeping tips http://alcedforyu.tumblr.com/post/99564790946/get-the-sleep-yu-need
3) Ditch the caffeine.
Believe it or not, I am and have always been a coffee and energy drink hater-Gasp!. Nevertheless, every year during the final exam period, I force myself to drink down multiple big cups of coffee and cans of Redbull because I expect that it will make me focus better and help me to stay up longer so that I can do those readings that I have ignored all semester. Truth be told, while caffeine can help you stay awake, it can actually make you feel more hyper, anxious and nervous which is the last thing you need during exams. To get energized, try exercising, drinking water or yummy fruit smoothies and eating more proteins.
To learn more about the effects of caffeine and energy drinks on your body and to get info of some energy-boosting alternatives, check out these posts we made earlier in the year
http://alcedforyu.tumblr.com/post/100156158226/caffeine-and-yu
http://alcedforyu.tumblr.com/post/98386936816/you-dont-need-energy-drinks-to-be-an-energized
4) Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for a helping hand if you need it!
Professors provide office hours where you can have one on one time to ask your questions and clarify any course material.
York offers Personal Counseling Support and Learning Skills Services workshops to help you improve your study habits and stress levels
Classmates can help you succeed too. It could be a great idea to form a study group so that you and your peers can help each other succeed.
5) Try your best and stay positive by reminding yourself that you’ve got this.
Just think about how close you are to the finish line and all those summer parties that are around the corner once you finish your exams! And with that in mind, take a look back at our very first blog post from back in September where we have your safer partying basics. http://alcedforyu.tumblr.com/post/97806894331/just-in-time-for-pub-night-safe-partying-for-yu
Remember that university is challenging but it’s also such an amazing time in our lives. We get to grow as individuals, gain independence and make tons of decisions. For many of us, it’s time when we get to do some partying before we join the real world. Wasn’t it the wise Wiz Khalifa and David Guetta who always reminded us to “Work hard, play hard.”
Our point this year has not been to tell you what to do when it comes to decisions with drugs and alcohol. Besides, that’s what parents are for! Rather, it has been our goal to give you information and education that you can use to make your own decisions.
So with that, we’d like to wish you all the best of luck for the end of the term! We know you will succeed :)
Love your Health Ed Alcohol & Other Drugs Team,
Lauren, Aleeza, Shirley, Vina and Alyssa