By Colt Taylor/ campus editor

The end is near! Repent! Repent and study. Finals draw near.

Finals represent the culmination of a semester’s worth of work. Some will be the standard multiple choice and short-answer affairs. Other professors will assign full essays or projects. Regardless of the form finals take, they are one of the biggest assignments of the semester and should be prepared for with an appropriate amount of care.

Each student has his or her own unique way of approaching finals, and there is really only one wrong way to prepare — not studying or putting it off until the night before. Procrastination is a tempting pastime for avoiding things one doesn’t wish to do, and the worst time to partake in this common practice is finals week.

The act of studying can prove surprisingly difficult for some students. In the case of essays or project finals, the only way to prepare is to do the project or write the essay. In the case of multiple choice and short-answer tests, one must find the best way to remember a broad spectrum of information.

Going back over notes taken during lectures is a good start, and paying close attention to material that may be confusing or tricky will help as well. Sometimes material on tests will not have been covered by the lecture. That’s what the textbook is for. Looking up important terms can be a guideline for finding information.

If the professor has given the class a review sheet, then half of the work is done. All that needs to be done is to look up each item on the list and ensure each item is understood.

Even a simple 30-minute study session is superior to procrastination. With finals being the most important part of the semester, students owe it to themselves, and the tuition they paid, to give these last assignments the time and attention they deserve.

The internet will still be there after finals week.