Stressing out because of end-of-semester final exams?

The holiday season brings less time to hit the books and to get ready for the looming deadlines of finals.

To help meet that challenge, the Student Success Center has tutors who provide workshops for ACC’s students. One focuses on learning how to manage end-of-semester stress.

“When preparing for an exam, ask yourself questions on every level of difficulty, starting with the easiest (knowledge) and working toward the most challenging (evaluation),” the Success Center website advises, based on Bloom’s taxonomy of thinking processes. “Then you will be better prepared for any question the instructor might give.”

When studying for final exams, it’s always good to know what to expect on the test.

Bloom’s taxonomy of thinking processes helps with that. Attending every class, reading all the assignments and taking notes are essentials to helpful studying. The final exam will be on the subjects the teacher taught.

Another helpful handout the Success Center has on reducing stress contains 52 stress reducers.

Among them:

• Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do today.
• Whatever you want to do today, do it now.
• Procrastination is stressful.
• Ask questions.
• Take a few moments to repeat directions, or what you think someone wants you to do. This can save hours.

The Student Success Center also provides stress tests for you to find out how much stress is a part of your life.

By figuring out what causes you stress and learning the best study habits, you can head off problems with this semester’s finals – and other things later.