Surviving UW Finals Week: Mental Health Tips from Experienced Huskies
It's 4 PM and it's already pitch black outside. You've been in the Suzzallo Reading Room since 9 AM, and you still have three chapters of organic chemistry to review. Welcome to UW Finals Week in Autumn Quarter.
The "SAD" Factor
UW students face a unique challenge: we take our hardest exams during the darkest days of the year. Seasonal Affective Disorder is real.
Tip: Do not study in the basement of Odegaard for 12 hours straight. Force yourself to walk The Ave during lunch. Seeing daylight (even grey daylight) resets your circadian rhythm.
The 8-8-8 Rule
Even during finals: 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of study, 8 hours for everything else.
If you pull an all-nighter for your CSE 142 final, you might memorize the syntax, but you'll lose the logic. Your brain consolidates memory during sleep.
"Sleep is not a luxury during finals,it's a study strategy."
Where to Cry (Ideally, Nowhere)
It's a running joke on the UW subreddit ("Best places to cry on campus?"), but let's be real: if you're engaging in "Study Hall Crying," you've pushed too far.
Emergency Reset: Go to the District Market, get a comfort food snack, and call a non-UW friend for 10 minutes. Break the bubble.
Use NoteNest to Compress Time
Don't re-read the textbook. That takes too long.
Upload your recorded lectures from the last 3 weeks to NoteNest. Ask: "Summarize the key themes regarding The Cold War for my HIST 113 final." Let the AI do the heavy lifting of synthesis so you can focus on memorization.