There is no question that Finals Week is a stressful time here at Northwestern. Everyone is all too familiar with the feeling that you should have done more reading, should have spent more time studying, and maybe even should have gone to class more often.
Over the past year NU has put a huge emphasis on mental health on campus and yet as finals approach it seems as though many of the “exam relief” initiatives are in fact perpetuating unhealthy habits. During Reading Period and Finals Week, both the library and Norris advertise that they are open for 24 hours. What message is this sending to NU students? Students should never be spending 24 hours in the library or Norris, forgoing sleep to study for a final exam. Not only is the university allowing this to happen, but setting an expectation in a student’s head that you should be doing this.
In addition to being open for 24 hours, Norris offers exam relief programming. On Tuesday of Reading Period, Norris offered free Vitamin Water to students. Only catch? They weren’t handed out until midnight. Shouldn’t students be home at midnight getting a solid amount of sleep to keep themselves healthy and attentive for the week?
In addition to the midnight giveaways, the Starbucks in Norris is kept open until 3 a.m. during Reading Period and Finals Week and even offers free coffee and tea. It is not healthy to be chugging down a coffee at 3 a.m. no matter how many finals you have.
There is no question on this campus that mental health is a serious issue that needs to be better addressed. There have been several successful initiatives this year, but when it comes to finals, NU really needs to readdress how this is approached.
I don’t believe that the University is intentionally trying to cause harm, but in my mind this is perpetuating many unhealthy ideas in students heads. If the library is open then I should probably be studying right? If I’m not drinking coffee constantly am I going to fail my exams? There are always going to be students who spend 10 hours in the library hopping themselves up on free coffee from Norris. But let’s not make this seem like the norm. Rather than having students working in the library until 4 a.m. and then walking home in the freezing cold exhausted, let’s encourage people to go home and take a nap to refuel for the next day. Lets remind each other to take the time to eat a healthy meal, sleep, shower, take mental breaks and let’s not have pressure from the University to keep up with the finals grind.
Eliza Abramson is a Communication sophomore. She can be reached at [email protected].
