As the end of the semester approaches, many students get excited to have a couple weeks off for break. The only thing that seems to be standing in the way is the looming thought of deadlines and final projects. That is why it is important that students prepare ahead of time because finals week waits for no one.

Deadlines are a part of college that students have to quickly adapt to. Learning to live on a schedule manipulated by project deadlines, homework assignments and exams is a crafted skill that every student will try to master.

Already students have started calculating the number of hours they can watch on Netflix compared to how many hours they need to spend studying or calculating just how many points are going to be needed to pass that difficult class; but the key to success is gone and passed when it could have been found weeks ago.

Stop procrastinating.

Of course most students would rather watch Netflix than work on that 14-page paper or go out with friends than work on math for the third time this week.

Don’t even get us started on group projects, the bane of a college student’s existence. One of the most important skills in college to learn is how to perform the balancing act that is getting all of your assignments done and somehow still being able to maintain a social life.

Pressures on students to turn in internship applications, scholarship applications, final projects, homework assignments and studying for tests are at their strongest point in the school year. Students can fight this by preparing for things ahead of time.

Scholarships and internships usually have deadlines but are less likely to have start dates, meaning that students can apply for the internship as soon as they see the post. It can be convenient to have work examples, a resume and cover letter on file for applying for scholarships and internships so that you are not pressured at the last minute to turn things in.

The biggest difficulty will be the struggle with group projects. Getting yourself committed enough to a project is a struggle enough, but keeping a group of four or five to stay committed to a project seems like it could be impossible.

Assigning part of the project for each person to do and then getting each part turned in early can help to better organize the project and make sure that each part runs more smoothly.

Overall it will come down to a game of what we want to do and what we have to do. Some students will risk it all by staying up the night before an exam to watch a few more episodes of their favorite show while others will fully prepare by studying, getting a full night sleep and eating breakfast that morning.

I think we all know which decision is the more responsible. Key in on those responsible practices and hope for the best, but no matter how you choose to study this year, may the curve be ever in your favor.