By: Aneicea Aaron

     With midterms around the corner, most students find themselves drowning in notes in need of revision and study guides that need to be completed. One week full of tests that can make or break a student’s GPA is enough to make anyone stressed. It is easy for students to put off studying until the last minute because they don’t know how to study or just out of pure laziness. “They wait until the night before to study for two major exams which causes them great stress,” says Oakland Mills High School English teacher, Mrs. Hieatzman.

     Another reason students procrastinate is because of a fear of failure. According to Academic Success Center, “The payoff for procrastinating is protecting ourselves from the possibility of perceived ‘real’ failure. As long as you do not put 100% effort into your work, you will not find out what your true capabilities are.”

     Fortunately, there are ways to manage stress and find an efficient way to study. Studying in a quiet environment will help motivate you to do your work and limit distractions. While this is true, avoid studying in bed, as laziness is inevitable and naps are tempting.

     It is important to space out your studying to avoid cramming too much information in your head the night before. Going over general concepts and bits of information over and over again will make it easier to memorize key topics before diving into all the details. Writing the information out is also a great way to store the info into your brain. This can be hard when studying for midterms.

     Some teachers do offer after school math help for midterms and give students study packets, covering everything from the first two quarters. These review packets are meant to be helpful, however they can just as easily leave students feeling more stressed than they were before. Noemi Gonzalez, a sophomore at Oakland Mills High School, says that “Study guides are somewhat helpful. It helps you know exactly what you have to study and it helps you know what you need to study more of and what you need to focus more on. However, some teachers gives study guides with subjects on them that we barely learned throughout the year.”

     If there is something on a study guide that may not have been covered in class, or if there are topics that you don’t understand, talking to your teacher about the subject is always a good idea. It is important to ask questions as soon as possible to avoid studying at the last second.