Cy’s Finals Frenzy began Sunday, an inaugural prep week tradition sponsored by the Memorial Union. The three-day event features study groups, free food, fun activities and giveaways for students as they prepare for finals.
Megan Moore, a marketing specialist at the MU, explained the vision for the event was more than just studying for finals.
“We want to help students succeed, and that’s not always focused on cramming for exams but making sure that students can take a break from studying and do some self care,” Moore said.
The combined focus on time for studying, playing and grabbing a bite to eat results in a schedule that has something for everyone.
Fun activities were at the heart of the event’s planning, and a highlight of Sunday’s kickoff was the showing of “Elf” and the late-night pancake party that followed.
Camila Figueroa, a sophomore majoring in psychology, and Fabiola Braudakis, a sophomore in animal science studied at the Memorial Union for a few hours Sunday and stayed for the events after.
“We’ve been here since the afternoon, because we were doing a little study upstairs, and then we stayed for the movie,” Braudakis said. “It was my first time seeing it. It was actually a pretty good movie. We just smelled the pancakes from the other room, so we came over.”
Figueroa and Braudakis studied in some of the quiet study rooms on the third floor.
“If you go to the end of the hallway, there’s a lot of tables and it’s very quiet. It’s like a hidden study area,” Figueroa said.
Several rooms in the MU will be reserved for students to work in, including the new lounge space on the second floor.
“People may not know, but there are these digital displays that students can connect to with their laptop,” Moore said. “Makes for great studying for groups you don’t because if you’re looking at the same computer, maybe you’re working from a shared document, it would be super easy to just blow that up onto the TV.”
Students will be able to participate in several different study options, one of which is supplemental instruction sessions sponsored by the Academic Success Center. While many of the sessions were offered Sunday, MATH 1500, MATH 1660 and CHEM 1630 will meet Monday afternoon and MATH 1650 will meet Tuesday. The list of supplemental instruction sessions can be found on the event website.
“If you’re in any of those classes, come to the Memorial Union on Sunday through Tuesday,” Moore said. “Most of the review sessions for those are on Sunday, and they start at one o’clock. But please check out the website for the complete schedule.”
Rebecca Murphy, a freshman majoring in industrial technologies, and Claudia Murphy, a junior majoring in political science and criminal justice, are sisters who plan to study at the MU later in the week.
“I’m going to go to the CHEM 1670 one,” Rebecca Murphy said. “And if they have one for the last class I’m in, I’ll go to that one, too. But I will be here.”
Claudia Murphy is an RA and has been hanging posters up around her dorm for a few weeks.
“I really liked the pancakes,” Claudia Murphy said. “Ithink it’s really nice, especially at the beginning of the week, because now it’s time to actually focus on my classwork and things like that.”
Sponsored by the Academic Success Center, accountability groups are new to Cy’s Final Frenzy, an event that was inaugurated in April. These groups are for students who are like-minded in their goal of being productive with others but do so by working on individual assignments for a variety of courses.
“Accountability groups are hosted by the Academic Success Center and are for any ISU student looking for a dedicated time to work on schoolwork in a productive space,” Moore said.
To see the schedule of events, visit the Division of Student Affairs website.
