It is 12:55 p.m on the last Sunday before finals week. Outside the Glenview Public Library, a huge group of teenagers stand in the frigid January weather, waiting for the library to open.
The doors open at 1:00, and all the students rush into the library, desperate to get one of the highly sought after study rooms. Papers are strewn about, teenagers are desperately trying to cram information into their heads, and stress is in the air.
But there may be a method to the madness. Sophomore Carolyn Levi believes she has found the perfect way to study for finals.
“[I] studied with friends [last year], and whenever we couldn’t remember something, we tried to make a joke or a dance out of it,” Levi said. “That really helped because talking about it, helped solidify the idea in my brain.”
Levi gives ideas of fun ways to study for finals, including watching Bill Nye videos for science, watching “epic” rap battles for history, or coming up with creative ways to remember facts.
“[To remember] Ghandi, [I spelled] nonviolence like N-A-A-N violence, like the Indian bread. It helped because I answered all those questions about Gandhi correctly.”
Junior Marley Hambourger also likes to study in groups for finals week.
“When I study by myself, I just get so distracted,” Hambourger said. “So when I [study with] friends, even though we talk and stuff, we still are getting something done.”
Many other South students prefer to study alone for finals, including sophomore Daniel Krolopp.
“I think if I have friends around me it kind of distracts me, and I’m not able to focus on what I’m trying to learn,” Krolopp said.
Sophomore John Tryfonopoulos agrees that studying alone is the better way to study for finals.
“I think it’s better to study by yourself than to study with other people because… you can study what you want to study, [and there are] less distractions,” Tryfonopoulos said.
Krolopp, like Levi, also has a unique way to study for finals, which he believes is effective.
“I like to record myself repeating something and then listen to it and read it at the same time,” Krolopp said. “I think that just listening to it, speaking it, and also reading it at the same time helps me [to] remember it better.”
Hambourger believes a specific piece of advice regarding finals is essential for anyone to know.
“You need to study for every final,” Hambourger said. “There is no final that you [shouldn’t] do any preparation for.”
