Student Blogger: Alexa Malerba

At last, the week every student dreads—or is excited for, depending on who you ask—has finally passed at my school: finals week. This week holds a lot of bittersweet emotions for me, especially at the end of my first year. On one hand, I’m excited for summer break and to be temporarily done with school. On the other hand, I’m going to miss my college friends and the memories we’ve made. I will not, however, miss taking finals. On that note, here is what a typical finals week is like at my school.

Between all the constant assignments and exams, it’s incredibly easy to feel a phenomenon known as burnout. Burnout is very common in college, especially towards the end of the semester. I have lots of personal experiences with burnout, both in high school and college. I feel varying degrees of unmotivation at times, although there are some days that are way worse than others. The worst of it typically occurs towards the end of the semester, a time when I’m mentally exhausted. Burnout can be hard to navigate when all you feel like doing is laying down and doing nothing, but there are some workarounds.

Student life is a major factor for prospective students to consider when deciding which college to attend. It’s important to know what your college will offer for students outside of the classroom, as college is more than academics. With college commitment season in full swing, it’s the perfect time for me to discuss student life at the University of Connecticut.

College can be very overwhelming for any student. Between homework assignments, exams, and extracurriculars, keeping a healthy balance can be a challenge. You may be wondering how a healthy balance can be achieved. While it can be difficult, the key is to stay committed and organized. Here are some tools I use to remain focused on my goals:

I’m halfway through the semester, which means two things: the weather’s starting to get warmer and exams are upon us. Any exam can be very stressful, but when multiple are happening in the same time frame, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. With midterm season happening now at my school, I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to share my advice in order to get through it.

Winter is in full swing, which also marks the beginning of my second semester of college. I learned a lot from my first semester: it was a big adjustment, but overall I would say it was pretty successful. I learned that I love the independence of college, although it comes with a lot of responsibility. For example, I need to manage my time properly so I don’t fall behind on assignments.