TV helps with finals? It’s not as crazy as it sounds
3 min readBy HARRY FISHER
With finals week rapidly approaching, University of Mary Washington students find themselves faced with the difficult task of trying to find ways to relax amidst all the chaos that the end of the semester can bring.
One of the most popular ways for students to shake off the stress in between working on final projects and studying for exams is, of course, binge watching television. However, there are also other ways to relax as you prepare for finals, and these students have shared their opinions on what they like to watch, listen to, and eat during and after the last week of the school year.
It seems many students find watching TV is a good way to relax, especially during finals.
“I like to watch TV shows from the 80s like Jem and the Holograms and The Heathers, because they’re so funny and over the top,” says Megan Lindsey, a junior history major.
“I like watching Jessica Jones during finals week, because it’s suspenseful, just like finals are,” says sophomore English major Katie Chau.
According to the fastweb.com article “Staying Healthy During Finals Week” by Arianne Amparo, taking a break from studying to watch some TV is a perfectly good idea. Amparo writes that taking breaks during study time is essential. She recommends taking a short break by watching TV. She warns against getting too carried away in a show, though.
However, for some students, the internet provides all of the stress relief they need.
“I like to watch ‘let’s players’ during finals week because they have funny reactions to frustrating video games,” says junior history major Sarah Jones.
It seems that for students like Jones, watching “let’s players,” or people who play video games on YouTube for people’s entertainment, is much more stress relieving than television, especially when they have over the top reaction to frustrating videogames, which creates some hilarious content which helps students take their edge off.
Saleha Malik, a junior creative writing major, has similar interests. “I like to watch let’s players, music videos. Anything that I don’t have to think about.”
After hours of studying, it seems like anything that allows students to just stop thinking and relax for a little while is a good way to take a break. This is especially true of music.
According to the uloop.com article “Do or Don’t: Studying While Listening to Music” by Elana Goodwin, “Studies have shown that listening to music before studying or performing a task can be beneficial as it improves attention, memory, and even your ability to do mental math as well as helping lessen depression and anxiety.”
These students have also shared their opinions on what they like to eat and drink when studying for finals.
“I try to eat like I normally do, because too much sugar and caffeine isn’t healthy,” Jones said.
“I like to drink tea. It helps me relax,” Lindsey said.
Tea is actually a much better energy booster for studying than coffee, according to the article “When it Comes to Studying, Science Proves Tea is Better Than Coffee” by Andi Heffez fromthelala.com: “The side effects of tea serve as the ultimate boost to your study habits. Tea is used for improving mental alertness, information processing, and memory, all crucial for getting that ‘A.’ As an added bonus, it can also help treat those finals week stress headaches.”
The students I spoke with also shared what they would like to do in celebration of finals being over. “I would binge watch all the shows I haven’t been able to watch because of finals,” Malik said.
“I always watch whatever TV shows everyone’s been talking about when finals are over,” Lindsey said. It seems that TV is a popular way to celebrate the end of the semester, both during and after finals.
If you need a way to clear your head during this finals season, just take a page from these students’ books, grab some green tea, and switch on the TV.
