Finals Are Here (And Then I’m Gone)

It’s Finals season again. Well, actually it’s finished for me. Yesterday I had my last exam, though it’s not quite over yet as I have a take home exam to submit on Wednesday.

Since classes finished, finals and getting ready for finals is pretty much all my life has revolved around. Every day I’ve either been working on a final essay, taking an exam, or revising for my next exam. My coffee addiction has returned in full. About a month back I was only having one or two cups of coffee a day. Now I’m back up to about three or four cups of coffee a day! (Safe to say I love coffee!)

For the first time in quite a while I was actually getting pretty stressed about one of my exams. Usually because of effective revision and stress managing tactics I manage to stay pretty calm about exams. But this time I started to worry, mainly I was worrying because I wasn’t sure if I was targeting my revision at the right parts, and even though I had been to every class I couldn’t relearn the entire course. Despite the stress I think I still managed to do pretty well, I know that I did that my best.

I think at the end of the day that is what is truly important with exams, to do your best. There’s always going to be that part of you thinking ‘I could have done that’ or ‘I should have learnt that’. But as long as you tried to revise and you did the best that you could, I think that is what matters most with exams.

It’s interesting how everyone has their own way of getting ready for an exam. I know some people like to revise hard right up to the last moment, that just makes me more stressed and I think if you have attended the classes and done your revision then there’s nothing that you can learn in the last couple of hours which you shouldn’t already know.

I’ve found that the way for me to get ready before for an exam is to de-stress as much as possible. I like to just completely unplug and put away the books about two hours before my exam so I’m in a calm head space when I go into the exam hall. This academic year I’ve really got into the habit of reading a comic before my exam, particularly DC Bombshells. I also like to try and avoid listening to music with words before an exam so I don’t get random song lyrics stuck in my head for the duration of the exam. Particularly since about 2012 I listen to I Am The Doctor from the Doctor Who Series 5 soundtrack before I go into an exam, it always manages to get me motivated.

Everyone seems to have a different reaction to exams and finals, but for me the most important thing is to just try to stay calm, and do the best that I can.

The Last Final

It’s time for the finals to end.

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve made it through another semester of university. I had my last final today which rounds out my work for this semester.

Exams usually cause a lot of stress but I have managed to stay not too stressed this time round. My revision approach has been little and often which has minimised overloading myself with information and (hopefully) maximised effectiveness. To unwind and stay calm I have been reading comics and having a cup of tea before I go out to my exams. These things won’t work for everyone but they’ve worked for me.

In the past few days we’ve had snow and I’ve learnt that the cold never bothered me anyway (because I’ve been appropriately dressed for going outside in the snow). The novelty of walking in snow has still not worn off yet. I am glad that I’ve got to have some proper Canadian snow before Christmas.

Tomorrow I am going to see Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. I will do a spoiler free review. I am very excited.

My Haul - Toronto in the run up to Christmas

This weekend I went to Toronto again. My aim this time was to explore some of the Christmasy things that were going on in the city but of course I still did some shopping!

As I mentioned in the main post, I bought Sir Jorgenbjorgen from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure in the Disney Store.

I also mentioned that I bought a couple of comics in the Black Canary comic coffee shop. This time I bought Vol 3 of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps and Vol 2 of DC Bombshells. I actually bought the previous volumes of both of these titles last time I was in Toronto! I think the fact that I am already getting the next installments shows you that I enjoyed both of these.

“Holy Itty Bitty collection Batman!” It has become something of a tradition for me to add another Itty Bitty to my collection each time I go to Toronto, this time I got Robin. This version of Robin is based on the 60s Batman TV Series, I love his hair!

So that was what I bought during my most recent trip to Toronto.

My Haul – From A Day Out In Toronto

This weekend I had a day out in Toronto. As promised here’s a My Haul post about what I bought this time in Toronto.

Eaton Centre

I started out in the Eaton Centre where I got some things I like from Disney Store and Hallmark.

Disney Store

I bought the Christmas Anna plushie wearing her new dress from the upcoming short, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. As soon as I heard that a Frozen Christmas short was in production I knew it would mean new dresses for Elsa and Anna which would mean new toys of them. I was actually pretty disappointed with how the dolls look but I really like how the plushies look. I managed to get Anna for only $10 thanks to a couple of offers in store.

Hallmark

As has now become tradition I bought two more Itty Bitty’s from Hallmark. I bought Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy and the new Avengers version of Captain America. If you know me it’s probably no surprise that I wanted to add these two to my collection.

The Black Canary – Comic Coffee Shop

Of course I bought comics whilst getting a coffee. I bought the next volume of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps after I enjoyed the first one which I got over summer. I also decided to get a comic which has been on my ‘To Get List’ for a while, DC Bombshells which is an alternate universe series where Wonder Woman leads a team of female DC heroes during WWII.

So that was what I bought this time. Itty Bitty’s, something from Disney Store and comics. I’m noticing the emergence of a pattern when I go shopping in Toronto!