The Beginning of Those Good Times!

It's official! I have finished my last final of the year on December 12, 2008 (That was Friday). Every quarter so far, finals week has always been kind of a downer week for me and I usually get really stressed out and I am just simply not as upbeat as I was as compared to a week before finals week. This quarter I wanted to try something different to see if it would affect me differently during finals week. My goal during finals week besides studying hard and staying focused on school was to be as positive as I could possibly be.

If anyone actually bothered to notice my behavior during this past week, they would notice that I was a little more upbeat than normal. I was studying and having fun at the same time, I was counting the number of days left with glee, I was leaving the test in a feel-good mood. I seriously wanted just skip through a field of flowers singing my heart out after each an everyone of my finals...unfortunately there are no field of flowers in UCI.

Honestly, I don't think it is even humanly possible to be happy during finals week unless you try to and make it as fun as possible. I won't say that sleeping over in the Student Center was too much fun but it was definitely interesting because now I can brag (I wouldn't know why I would to brag about it...maybe claim is a better word choice) to others that I have slept in the Student Center before.

I will say that staying positive definitely impacts you in a way that I never imagined it would. It kind of helped me focused in an odd way. It helped me find some peace in an otherwise chaotic environment and week. I didn't feel any sense of panic when I felt like I was behind schedule, I wasn't moaning and grumbling about how hard my subject was...I just went along with the flow and just attacked my notes and studied as hard as I could. I know that I didn't like Genetics and it was one of those class that I have to take rather than a class that I want to take, but I did my best to enjoy it as much as I could and it actually made studying somewhat easier for me.

The glass-is-half-full mindset I developed during this past finals week made me feel really good at the end of each of my finals. I know that I can only study and do so much and whatever-happens happens. However, how I feel after each finals is in my control. I can be pessimistic and complain about how hard the test was and how terrible I did or I can say that I did well and move on. The choice is mine to make and no one else. Others can complain about how bad they did but that doesn't mean I have to, too.

In the end, being positive does amazing things for me and it something I am going to try doing on all my tests. People like it when you are happy and you make others around you happy. Positivity helps you believe in yourself and enables you to do great things. Gone are the days where I dread the weeks of tests because I know that week is going to be stressful and overburdened. From now on, the future is going to be filled with positivity and I'm going to welcome it with open arms.

*So recently I've been doing a lot thinking/meditating and this song helps that process a lot. Enjoy!