When a professor hands a student the study guide for one of their exams, most students do anything but read it. The routine of any student is pretty much the same once they plop their textbooks on their desk. Typically, they first go to Facebook to rant about all the homework they have to do, spend 50 dollars on coffee, energy drinks and chocolate and then stare at the pile of pain waiting on their desks for a solid two hours before doing anything about it. And once they finally commence their study sessions, they make sure to give themselves 45 minute breaks per every 10 minutes of study time so they can stay sane.

I can picture many of you smiling at the scene I’ve just painted for you because, for the most part, you know that this routine is true. Midterms, quizzes and finals are the main reason behind so many students’ mental breakdowns, junk food binges and tears quietly being shed behind laptops. The incredibly overwhelming testing season can get to us all. Nevertheless, it doesn’t have to be as dreadful as it first appears. The tears and forehead bruises from banging your head against your anatomy textbook can all be prevented by simply listening to these three people: Thumper, Winnie the Pooh and Rihanna.

Wait, what? Yes, you read that right. What do these three have to do with a suffering GPA, you ask? Everything. Let me explain.

Thumper, Bambi’s little rabbit friend, once gave Disney children a very wise tip. He said, “Eating greens is a special treat. It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat…” First, and foremost, I agree with Thumper. Spinach is the absolute most disgusting thing on this planet, and no one will ever convince me otherwise. But in all seriousness, Thumper has a point. Healthy foods are crucial to our brain function, especially during testing. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a UCLA professor of neurosurgery and physiological science, says that, “diet, exercise and sleep have the potential to alter our brain health and mental function.” Also, in a study done by researchers in Australia, they discovered that the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for learning and memory, was smaller in overweight and obese individuals. Combining both of these professional conclusions, healthy food improves our memory and mental function. Now, I’m not encouraging students to eat spinach before a big test because that would be torture. What I am suggesting is better care and awareness of our diets. Perhaps less caffeine and more water, or grapes instead of gummy bears. Healthy choices will improve your mental state, overall health and boost your ability to recall information for big tests and exams. Your grades and future old-grandparent-self will thank you later.

Everyone’s favorite bear, Winnie the Pooh, echos what every college student now constantly says: “Let’s begin by taking a smallish nap or two…” Sleep is a necessity that is often deprived from hard working college students due to work, assignments and other extracurricular activities. The University Health Center at Georgia has discovered that “students who get six or fewer hours of sleep have a lower GPA than those who get eight or more.” Georgia also discovered, after researching college students and sleep, that “insufficient sleep impacts our health, our moods, our GPA and our safety.” On average, most college students get six to 6.9 hours of sleep per night, when most students need around six to ten. For the sake of one’s educational success, it would be wise to listen to the silly old bear and take a nap every once in a while to recharge your brain. 20 minute power naps can do more for the brain than just resting for a while. Make sure to set an alarm, however, to wake yourself up again. Those packets and assignments won’t finish themselves.

Rihanna says this next point best through her song “Work.” It’s simple, straightforward and the only word of the song everyone truly knows. “Work, work, work, work, work, work” all semester long and not at the last minute. Most of us by now have learned that procrastinating is the worst thing one can possibly do in college. In order to get good grades, one must work for them. Eric Jaffe, from APS Observer, puts it in obvious terms: “Procrastinators earned lower grades than other students and reported higher cumulative amounts of stress and illness.” Fuschia M. Sirois, doctoral candidate in psychology at Carleton University, discovers during a study of 374 undergraduates that “procrastination is closely linked to avoidant coping styles [which is] the tendency to neglect problems that cause anxiety rather than confront them.” Not one part of those two conclusions sounded tempting. Getting work done ahead of time reduces anxiety, stress and builds positive time management skills. As students, it is vital that we use our time wisely since our busy schedules can overwhelm us at times. Work hard from the beginning of the semester, and exams will seem like easy A’s.

There are many other things students can do to prepare for finals like saying, “no,” to late night parties, like Meghan Trainor, to stay home and study. You can also scream into a pillow like every screamo song taught you in order to release built up stress. Midterms, exams and quizzes can be made easier by taking care of one’s body and getting to work early in the semester, just as Thumper, Winnie the Pooh and Rihanna have told us. Take care of yourself during the testing period and spend your time wisely. As Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings puts it, “It’s the job that’s never started that takes the longest to finish.” So what are you waiting for? Those study guides won’t do themselves. Get to work!