Students study in the Sims Memorial Library as final week approaches. Brianna Hawkins/The Lion's Roar

Sims Memorial Library has hosted two study strategy workshops to teach students how to cope with stress during finals week.

The first event, “How to Prepare for and Ace Your Finals” was hosted on Tuesday Nov. 28 at 5:15 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 3:30 p.m. in Sims Memorial Library Room 252. “Take a Breather” Study Break was hosted on Monday, Nov. 27 and Tuesday, Nov. 28. The event will also be hosted on Monday, Dec. 4 at 5:15 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m.

Reference/Outreach and Instructional Media Librarian Angie Balius explained what goes on during the events and how they help students.

“The thing we’re doing for the third consecutive semester is our ‘Take a Breather’ Study Break,” said Balius. “We partner with the student health center and Kay Grest is a nurse over there. She is a member of our Peace and Purpose Initiative on campus. That’s a group of faculty members that are bringing mindfulness to campus, and so these Take a Breather Study Breaks, are 15-20 minutes long, and Kay will lead us in a little breathing exercise to help us kind of calm down our stressed-out minds, so we can focus more on what we’re studying.”

Balius says if students follow the instructions they were given at the session, they’re more likely to be successful when taking a test.

“If you do that while you’re studying, you’re going to be more productive in your studying,” said Balius. “And when you get in to your exam the next day, those same exercises, your recall is going to be better, and you’ll perform better, and hopefully you would have a much higher grade.”

Balius created the study sessions as a member of the Peace and Purpose Initiative.

“It’s a faculty group that is trying to just help students shut out all the other noise and focus on the moment,” said Balius. “It really helps you beat the stress and better prepare for your exam.”

“For a lot of people, it’s their first experience with meditation and mindfulness, and what we have found each time we do that, is some of the most reluctant people get the most out of it, and they’re very enthusiastic about it when we finish.”

When it comes to how students approach taking finals, Balius says that many students set high expectations for themselves and are seeking perfection as finals get closer.

“With the workshops and the meditation breaks, it’s offering a better strategy for success,” said Balius.

Nurse Practioner and Health Center Director Andrea Peevy also shared her thoughts on how students should prepare themselves mentally for the test.

“If you wait until the end of the semester to try and cram everything in, that’s usually not really effective,” said Peevy. “I would also say that I think sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves because of the expectation,” said Peevey. “Let’s say someone make straight A’s in high school and then come to college. Straight A’s is not a realistic expectation. For some it is but for others, college is a different experience than high school.”

According to Peevy, students need to re-evaluate their expectations of themselves.

“You need to sleep, you need to take a break and take a walk outside just for fresh air,” said Peevy. “And those are things you would want to do to be healthy in general.”

The library will also have extended hours for finals week on Saturday, Dec. 2 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 3 from 2 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Monday through Wednesday 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.