Kick the finals blues with a little bit of fun

Students take final exams at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy on May 11, 2010, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Associated Press
Students take final exams at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy on May 11, 2010, in St. Louis, Missouri.  Associated Press
Students take final exams at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy on May 11, 2010, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Associated Press

By Rae Jefferson
Arts & Entertainment Editor

Finals week is one of the most taxing parts of the year, but that doesn’t mean the pressure of performing well on exams has to take control of students’ lives. Self-care, which involves maintaining one’s overall health, includes managing stress. Here are a few activities that can help keep stress levels at bay between all the exams and study sessions.

1. Eat yummy food (especially dark chocolate — it’s proven to decrease stress).

2. Do something you love to get your mind off the stuff you don’t love.

3. Don’t over do it with fun or studying.

4. Take a nap. Surely you’ve missed some Z’s over the semester.

5. Watch a movie in a genre on Netflix that you’ve never tried before.

6. Check out the “New Releases” section of Spotify.

7. Do some online shopping if you have some extra cash.

8. Pretend you are a cat. Pretend the cat is you. Send it to your finals.

9. Play Wii tennis.

10. Go to Cameron Park, especially if you have a dog.

11. Play Rock Band.

12. Check out the $1 section at Target.

13. Eat cookie dough.

14. Go get froyo or snow cones.

15. Roller skate around campus.

16. Like all of your friends’ old Facebook photos (lol).

17. Hide behind bushes and scare people.

18. Go hammocking.

19. Perform social experiments (safely).

20. Put whipped cream in a mayonnaise jar and eat it somewhere publicly.

21. Go to Hastings.

22. Explore downtown Waco.

23. Visit a neighboring town.

24. Make creative Snapchat stories.

25. Make a music video.

26. Leave clues in Moody to a scavenger hunt that doesn’t exist.

27. Take a trip to Austin or Dallas.

28. Go cliff jumping.

29. Bake cupcakes.

30. Eat a bagel.

31. Find new ways to use a pipe cleaners.

32. Make your own play-doh.

33. Pick flowers (not Blue Bonnets).

34. Ambush your friends with copious amounts of glitter (first, be sure you know how to run).

35. Play football in Fountain Mall.

36. Inhale helium.

37. Go to Cameron Park Zoo.

38. Have a bonfire at Waco Lake.

39. Have a picnic at Indian Spring Park.

40. Get a jump start on returning your textbooks.

41. Finish filing your tax returns.

42. Watch cat videos. Repeat.

43. Google videos of babies falling down or seeing their shadows for the first time.

44. Watch all your favorite kids’ movies.

45. Start a new hobby.

46. Learn to knit and then quit.

47. Make some Kool Aid.

48. Go to Katie’s Frozen Custard.

49. Eat sushi.

50. Order pizza.

51. Try a new restaurant in Waco.

52. Read the Lariat!

53. Dress up nice and go to Whataburger.

54. Try the hottest flavor of wings at Buffalo Wild Wings.

55. Make candles.

56. Tie-dye a shirt (or some underwear).

57. Learn to hula dance.

58. Plan a vacation that you’ll never take.

59. Buy a new swimsuit.

60. Go to the beach at Speegleville Park in Waco wearing said swimsuit.

61. Don’t go to your finals. Just kidding.

Tribune News Service