Is it time to think about those 0th week exams?

It’s 0^thweek, all your friends that you haven’t seen in weeks are doing something fantastic, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and you’re sat at your desk with approximately 50 hours of work and revision for 3 collections that you need to get done by 9am the next morning. We’ve all been there, and it’s not exactly fun.

However, there are some reasonably simple things you can do to avoid being in this situation. Obviously, the only real solution is to do the work beforehand. You can do this in a way that means your vac is not just a rerun of term-time, but with less pretty study sessions in the rad cam, and more of your parents deciding to hoover just at the moment you finally sit down to get going. There are certainly ways to cope!

Although the absolute last thing you want to do deep into the summer is plan ahead, this is definitely going to save you a lot of hassle further down the line. Give yourself a fighting chance! If you’re spending a month backpacking through Asia it’s unlikely you’re going to spend your evenings getting to grips with the complexities of thermodynamics, so pick out a handful of days where you can drag yourself to the nearest overpriced coffee shop, sit down, and try and plough through a bit of the work. Try to be reasonable; there are going to be days that you planned to work but things come up and I doubt you’ll be diligently telling your best friends that you would love to go for an afternoon in the September sunshine at the pub, but you simply must read the works of K. B. McFarlane. Make sure to be flexible.

The best thing you can do though is be kind to yourself. Ultimately, its time for a break. Vacs are supposed to be just that – vacations. Oxford terms are really intense, as I’m sure none of you need to be told, and for the good of your health and happiness, you probably need to switch off for a bit and spend a few days in bed, watching Brooklyn 99 on repeat and eating Doritos for all three meals. So, don’t be too hard on yourself, and remember that your wellbeing is more important than any essay. So keep enjoying the vac, but maybe start to think about making life that little bit easier for your future stressed-0^thweek self too.