By NICK TODARO

Staff Writer

Finals are coming.

Exams are especially brutal in light of the quarter system, which condenses semester-hour classes into 10 weeks. Ten weeks never feels like enough time to some, and the grind can distract students from upcoming tests.

At some point, every student has to deal with the horror of it themselves and each deals with the stress of exams differently.

Justin Deal, a sophomore graphic design major, said end-of-the-quarter stress always catches him off guard, but he has a method for relaxing that works.

"I like relaxing with R&B music during finals," Deal said.

"Nothing is quite like riding around listening to some great music to relieve my stress. I like to work out a little, too, but I've got a special place in my heart for Marvin Gaye."

Daryl Maxwell, a sophomore electrical engineering major, said his stress level is always high, but finals are creeping up on him.

"I work as a [police] cart driver during the wee hours of the morning, on top of my engineering work," Maxwell said.

"It's hard to keep this kind of pace up. I'm burning out. My stress level seems to get even higher each quarter."

Shauna Owrey, a senior English major, has dealt with finals stress for four years.

"I really don't get too stressed out about finals anymore," Owrey said. "After the first two or three years, it just got old to anxiously await the feeling of impending doom."

"You learn to just study and get it over with, or at least I did. When I do get stressed out from schoolwork, I like to just sleep or hang around friends."

There are ways stress can be reduced, if not altogether avoided, with a little preparation.

In an article titled "Tips for Managing Exam Stress," located at http://stress.about.com, Melissa C. Stoppler, M.D., said there are some common sense ways to reduce exams stress.

She suggests finding out as much about the exam as possible and constructing "a plan of attack" to make sure you cover the material that will be tested. Losing a sense of control can exacerbate stress, so going in with a plan is important.

Find out where the test will be given, put together materials you might need for the test beforehand, decide what an appropriate amount of preparation is and carry it out before the night before.

Stoppler's argument is cramming just increases your stress level because of anxiety involved.

One important step is to stick to your routine. Varying your daily routine or sleep patterns can throw you off before an exam. Studying all night can leave you with "a fuzzy kind of consciousness akin to that induced by jet lag," Stoppler said.

Arguably, the most important preparation for an exam is going to class.

It is ironic how often a student can recall ideas from a lecture they were maybe only half listening to.