Study Days: a time when classes are over, alarms are turned off and fashion doesn’t exist. Sadly, they are simply a precursor to final exams, those pesky little tests that cover basically everything you’ve learned in the semester. Here at 4E, we know all too well that it takes a little time to come to grips with the impending doom. Here are your five stages of finals acceptance:

1. Denial

Finals? What finals? The first stage is always denial. It’s just too easy to go on, blissfully “unaware” of the impending finals-induced pain. You enjoy your final semi-formals, sleeping in and not having to go to class — ignoring the reason why you don’t have to go to class.

2. Procrastination

OK, so it starts to set in that all of your final exams and papers are about to hit you like a giant brick wall. That doesn’t mean that you necessarily start studying, though. It just means one more Sporcle quiz, one more phone call to your mom or one more load of laundry. Maybe it’s time for a new profile picture? Literally any excuse not to study.

3. Studying Begins

So you’ve finally exhausted all other options. It’s time to gather your books and head to Sellinger, Lau 2, Starbucks or any other social study environment. After all, you won’t be seeing your friends for a while after the next couple weeks. Who says you can’t study and have fun?

4. Panic

Looks like you’ve been having too much fun and not enough studying. It’s time to make the dreaded trip to the “bookends” of Lau (see what I did there?) and head to the silent sanctums of either Lau 1 or 5. You’ve got six pages of a Problem of God paper left to write and a microeconomics exam tomorrow. The Self-Control app is a necessity.

5. Relief

At long last, you are finally free! You hand in that last paper, fill in your last Scantron-bubble and crank up Queen’s “We Are the Champions” — maybe that last one is just me. Sure, you still have a lot of packing left, and yes, end of the year goodbyes are sad. But the burden of finals week is finally off of your shoulders.

Gif: tumblr.com, pandawhale.com, wordpress.com; Photo: wisconsinwatch.org