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(04/25/13 12:00am)
Finals week is weird.For some of us, our grades are determined long before this week. With papers written, exams taken, projects turned in and curves taken into account, finals week is an inconvenience keeping us from the summer. But for the unfortunate many of us, our final exams can be the difference between a successful semester or filling that summer with online courses.A near-sighted student stumbles into finals with a "blissfully simple" solution: all-nighters, cramming, caffeine and Adderall. While this might sound like an edgy and necessary evil, this regiment is probably causing more harm than good.With the way I've treated finals in the past, I've definitely shaved a few weeks off my obsessive-compulsive life. That being said, here is a functional list of things you should avoid in the few weeks leading up to and during finals.1. All-nighters: Sleep is one of the most important tools for success. It may seem like a good idea to stay up for 48 hours before a final to review those chapters you "learned" during that spring break hangover. But information recall and long-term memory are reinforced by six to eight hours of sleep a night. The slacker who decides to become an "honors student" for a week might be disappointed in his or her results.2. Fast food: In between study sessions, cramming and intense reviews, sometimes we forget the stuff that keeps us going: food. It may be the easy way out, but those 99-cent burritos at Taco Bell or the carne asada special at Los Favoritos could spell danger for a student on the edge. The last thing you need during a final is an uncontrollable trip to the bathroom. Drink lots of water and keep that system flushed out.3. Parties and bars: It may sound like a no-brainer to avoid, but the week leading up to finals is an excellent opportunity to party. With no more classes and a week to spare before exams, it's only natural to gather and kill time the way ASU students always have. But it would be wise to avoid events where the intoxicated (possibly you) make poor decisions that lead to injury.Do we see a trend here? If there's ever a time to avoid unhealthy things, it's now. In this short running list, the last sweeping point is the most important.4. Change: I'm definitely an advocate of change. It keeps our lives interesting and helps us become functional, progressive people. But during finals week, change is your enemy. We are creatures of habit. Whether those habits are good or bad, consistency is the foundation to executing a successful series of exams. Finals week should be approached no differently than the rest of your year (with the exception of tips one through three). Now is not a good time to start smoking, quit smoking, start working out, break up with your boyfriend, buy that badass new video game you've been wanting or pick up skateboarding. It may sound like a passive way to approach life, but this list is truly an active course in succeeding. If only for a short while, employing a healthy and consistent lifestyle during finals week is crucial.Drink water, get some rest and study your notes — you'll be fine.Reach the columnist at mschan1@asu.edu or follow him at @MorganSukotto
(04/17/13 9:57pm)
The explosions at the Boston Marathon were tragic. When it comes to terrorist attacks in America, the death counts, injuries, levels of destruction and eye-witness accounts are pointless. They are all terrible, and the world would be a better place without them.
(04/11/13 12:00am)
I've been asked to participate in a "business venture" by a few friends. They've become employees of Vemma, a Scottsdale-based company that sells a variety of healthy, alternative-ingredient energy drinks.
(04/03/13 9:39pm)
The Internet is a forum intended to break inhibitions in networking, communication and both intellectual and creative freedoms. It is readily accessible through multiple devices by people of any economic status.
(03/28/13 12:00am)
As my undergraduate experience comes to an end, there aren't many things with which I'm unhappy. I'm content with the way things in my young life have gone so far, and yet I still worry. Actually, I've always worried about a lot of things. Looking back, I used to worry a lot. I used to worry about school, grades, classes, girls, work, friends and money. I worried about some things more than others, but when I worried, I was a giant ball of stress.I worried most about the things that I couldn't control or things that didn't have answers.Sounds dumb, I know. It kills me to say this, but I think that it's natural for us to worry about everything.Fueled by Web MD and television shows about diseases, I used to catch myself wondering if my common cold was actually some bizarre STI or strange form of early onset cancer. Competitive education systems forced me to worry about grades, GPAs and test scores, even when I'd reached every goal I set for myself. Day by day, I continuously worried about my appearance to friends and strangers, seeking praise I would never get. I worried about those things without hesitation based on a simple fallacy: If I worry about it, bad things won't happen.In other words, I thought, if I don't worry, the worst possible thing will happen. I was living a flawed lifestyle. Sure, it helped me get good grades, stay healthy and maintain many friendships and relationships. But it was tearing at my mental security. Although I claim to know more euphemisms and old sayings than any of my friends, a close friend of mine bested me with one I'd never heard: "Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere"If only I had been forced to hear those words sooner, my undergraduate career would not have been such a pill. It wasn't instant or overnight, but his words got under my skin.With all the things going on in my life, both personal and private, worrying was just that — one more thing I had to do. I was consumed with anxiety, adding on an extra course to my already full plate.I'm not perfect, but I decided to rid myself of that extra chore. Why rock in a chair when you could be sprinting toward something better? Sometimes, worrying has a place. But more often than not, it's best to let it go.Get up and stop worrying. Take the proactive steps to solutions. You'll be in a much better place. I sure am.Reach the columnist at mschan1@asu.edu or follow him at @MorganSukotto
(03/20/13 9:54pm)
I don't reflect on the past very often. I've come to accept that life is a constantly changing event, offering new experiences every day. As life changes, so must we.When I started to receive the emails about commencement ceremonies and reminders to pick up graduation regalia, the last four years suddenly became surreal. Earlier this week, as I walked by my old dorm room in Barrett, The Honors College, cap and gown in hand, an unusual feeling swept over me.Memories of the last four years came flooding back to me: all the people I've met and the ones I've left behind, the classes I aced and the ones I hated, the papers I spent hours on and the ones I practically slept my way through. The ups and downs of being a young student, so enamored with being "new college material," evaporated with those memories. Being so nostalgic, wrapped up in how naïve I used to be — it made me wistful.Part of nostalgia, I realized, is wondering if the best is behind you. Few things in this world beat being young and reckless. I'm far from being an old man, but being 22 years old, with 8 years of secondary and post-secondary education behind me, can make even a young man long for "the old days."In a fit of despair that lasted all of two minutes, I wondered if graduation would be the final nail in the coffin of my adolescence. But before I could think twice, I realized that being nostalgic is more than just longing. Nostalgia yearns for the past, but it also leaks excitement for the future.If we think back to the beginning of college, could we have ever guessed how much we were going to learn about life in four years? I certainly couldn't have called all the shots I took, missed and made. That brought me to the future. Graduation may be the end of an undergraduate career, but as corny as it sounds, it is also a new beginning. We all experience that naïveté and "freshman feeling" over and over and over: finding a new job, starting graduate school, travelling to unfamiliar places or trying a hand at competitive cup stacking.Nostalgia isn't a bad thing. But nostalgia is a reminder that at one time, something in our lives was new and exciting. I encourage all of you to relish in the experiences at which you're so proficient, because eventually, you'll look back and wonder how you got so jaded. And then, you can begin anew — and if you're looking for a brand new experience, I recommend wingsuit flying.Reach the columnist at mschan1@asu.edu or follow him at @MorganSukotto
(02/28/13 12:14am)
As a young and dramatic generation, we like to say we've seen some terrible times. We'd like to think that we've gone through the wringer, seen glimpses of depression and fought hardships.
(02/21/13 12:17am)
Do you send emails? Are you on Facebook? New government bills seek to break your privacy.
(02/14/13 1:00am)
The 2013 flavor of the year has thus far been: “Don’t trust the government. It's going to betray us.”
(02/07/13 1:00am)
While most of Sunday's buzz came from Super Bowl festivities, blackouts and Beyoncé, the hacktivist group Anonymous quietly launched its next blitz against the U.S. government: A widespread release of 4,000 bank executives' credentials, login and personal information stolen from government websites.
(01/30/13 11:42pm)
Dear future successful undergraduates,
(01/17/13 1:00am)
In a recent report by National Public Radio, the Pew Research Center revealed that nearly 20 percent of American adults claim they don't identify with any religion.
(01/09/13 11:00pm)
The future is here and we sometimes fail to see it.
(12/06/12 10:39pm)
Sports fans, I’m proud to say that I am one of you. I’m a huge advocate of American football, both NFL and NCAA. I cheer on my Sun Devil football team, rain or shine. Major League Baseball is something else I couldn’t live without. I follow the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks more than I’d like to admit.
(11/09/12 2:50am)
The past 48 hours have been a battleground of opinions, heated discussions and political statements from less-than-informed citizens. America’s president, through the campaign dust and verbal shrapnel, has been elected once more.
(10/26/12 1:48am)
I can’t stand horror movies.
(10/11/12 11:36pm)
I’ve recently come to a consensus with several scholarly friends that there’s something more important in attractiveness over hair color, clothing choice, conversational skills or sense of humor. The secret to attraction — hands down — is musical taste.
(09/27/12 11:54pm)
College Board hasn’t seen SAT reading comprehension scores this low since 1972, NPR reported earlier this week. Out of the nearly 2 million high school seniors who took the SAT, “six in 10 test takers are not prepared for college level work.”
(09/14/12 12:02am)
“This country *hic* is falling apart!” gurgled a tipsy political science student in between hiccups on Mill Avenue Saturday night.
(08/30/12 11:42pm)
I do not smoke marijuana.