6 Ways To Treat Yo’ Self When You Finish Exams
It's been a long semester. You deserve it.
On uni campuses around the country this week, students are stepping outside of exam halls and breathing in the crisp winter air. It smells sweet. It smells like freedom.
“Let’s not do that again,” some students say to their friends. Others ask, “What did you put for 2B?” exchanging shrugs. Somewhere, someone is saying, “Actually, I didn’t think it was too bad at all,” and someone else is resisting the urge to respond to that with violence.
If you’re lucky, exams are already fading to nothing more than a possibly painful memory. You know what this means, boys and girls? It’s time to unwind and Uni Junkee is here to give you some ideas on how you can treat yo self.
Have some dranks
Nothing says “It’s over” quite as elegantly as a few drinks at the campus bar, or at your local or back patio. Whether you breezed through exams or not, you deserve to be rewarded.
It’s been a long semester. Toast to your tutors, your roommates, your friends, and that hot guy who made your coffee every damn day. Toast to yourself! This is your moment, drink it in.
Catch up on weeks of missed binge-watching
Grab a hot chocolate, the remote and settle in. You might not have had time to keep up-to-date with your favourite shows and avoiding spoilers on social media has proven to be more stressful than actually studying.
But those days are over. Breathe in. Breathe out. Hit play.
Alternatively, get started on a good book. Perhaps you can’t get quotes, facts and equations you studied out of your head. Push them out with stories of adventure, love or history. This is best enjoyed in a cosy space with a pet to pat nearby.
Get out of town
It doesn’t have to be Europe. In saying that, if you can manage to get to Europe you should probably go to Europe. Sangria, art, gelato. Europeans.
For the rest of us plebs, a road trip can be just as fun and you won’t have any jetlag. Small blessings. Grab some friends, pick a destination, sort out a playlist and hit the road.
Should time be an issue, a weekend away is also cleansing for the spirit. The important thing is to remind yourself that there is a world outside that you’ve been missing while you’ve been a slave to study.
Go on, buy yourself something nice
Say what you like about consumer culture, buying something that you’ve been lusting after for a while is so satisfying. It could be a pair of boots, some music, exercise gear or a game. Treat yo self to a fancy bottle of wine and a delicious meal. You’re worth it.
Relase the study tension
Studying – good for the brain, bad for the body. Weeks of sitting at your desk can have you feeling aches in your neck, back and in extreme cases, your soul. Ouch.
Getting a massage is one of the best things on the planet. It feels amazing, and so does saying the word ‘masseuse’.
If you’re not into massages (it happens), physical exercise can be rewarding in a similar way. Go bushwalking, play a game of soccer, go rock climbing or try salsa dancing. But maybe not all at the same time.
Most importantly…
It begins with “S” and finishes with “eep,” and it’s not sheep.
It’s sleep. Well done, genius.
Maybe your bed is feeling neglected. Probably not, let’s be honest. Either way, a perfect way to celebrate finishing exams is to hit the sheets. Even better? Not setting an alarm.
Lucy studies journalism and Spanish at the University of Wollongong. She’d work a pun into everything if she could.