Take a chill pill: It’s just finals week

Welcome to our nightmare: It is finals week at UCLA.

Our normally vibrant student body has transformed into an assembly of zombies who seek to conquer and destroy.

Complete domination over final exams and papers is the common goal. Only when these UCLA androids complete their task will they transform back to their normal selves.

Over the past week I have spoken to people whose lives seem to be in temporary shambles.

Many have not slept in days. People have relocated to Powell Library, and caffeine is flowing in their veins.

This quarterly behavior strikes me as completely unnecessary and unfulfilling.

Students mistakenly believe that it is worth destroying their bodies and minds for finals week. Procrastination, ruthless competition and grade glorification are enough to drive people over the edge.

But our health and well-being should not be put on the line in exchange for a good grade and a pat on the shoulder.

It is not uncommon to encounter students whose health has been severely compromised by their desire to succeed.

This is most obviously displayed by the fact that it has become commonplace for students to resort to stimulant drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin.

These drugs can do a lot more harm than your average cup of coffee: Adderall and Ritalin are both amphetamines, just like the speed sold by the neighborhood drug dealer.

According to The New York Times, as many as 20 percent of college students have used these prescription drugs to stay awake for hours, and sometimes days, on end.

In an environment where these substances are so widely abused, it appears as if it is a disadvantage if you abstain.

“I think it was frustrating watching people I know do better than me because of their use of Adderall,” said Michael Chanco, a third-year biology student at UC Santa Barbara.

“In my major, everyone is trying to get one up on everyone else, whether it is a test from last year, a little extra time with a professor, or the use of Adderall.”

Aside from peer competition, self-induced disadvantages also lead to stress and complication.

Inevitably, procrastination will get the best of some of us, and self-torture during finals week is the only conceivable solution.

I am familiar with people who do not attend class or fail to keep up with required reading.

It is during finals week that they commit their lives to ensure they successfully complete their classes.

This is fine if the sole goal is to secure that A, but the material absorbed during such a short period of time will surely be flushed out after the next tidal wave of information crashes.

By cramming and drowning in facts, we lose the fundamental reason we are here at UCLA: to brighten and enrich ourselves.

Repeatedly, professors remind us that our education is a process and grades are definitely not the most important element of our educations.

I know this must go right over the heads of those competing for top medical and graduate schools.

Nevertheless, this point is valid, and we should not allow our desire for good grades to get the better of us.

Competition is a fact of life that makes it more interesting.

However, winning the race does not guarantee happiness or success later in life.

After college, there will be no finals week to secure our success or repair our failures.

Wherever our career paths take us, to be successful, we will be expected to always play at the top of our game.

At this point, it may be hard to modify our pressured schedule.

But winter quarter will soon be upon us, and we will have the opportunity to change our ways for the next term.

It is important to reevaluate our priorities before we destroy our bodies and minds.

Studying and high grades are definitely important, but they should not take precedence over all of life’s other aspects.

So breathe: It’s only finals week.

E-mail Enclade at genclade@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.

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