In 2019, Marvel Studios released the film Avengers: Endgame as a direct sequel to their 2018 film Avengers: Infinity War. The 2018 film ends with all hope lost. The Avengers fight but are unable to beat Thanos, the antagonist, who succeeds in wiping out half of all life forms in the universe. For a few characters, this sense of hopelessness carries over into Endgame. It appears they did all that they could to save the world, but what they were up against was just too overwhelming and failure was inevitable. Despite this, with collaboration, faith and a bit of luck, they manage by the end of the movie to kill Thanos and restore the other half of the universe.

I believe the weeks leading up to finals can feel like an infinity war. The workload is outrageous, the pressure is mounting up and there just isn’t enough time to get everything done. This can leave students feeling hopeless, stressed and anxious about how they will perform in their final exams. And although it might not be a life-threatening situation, failing a final can feel like the end of the world.

When trying to manage all the exam pressure, it is important to first acknowledge that you should be feeling the pressure. Exams are designed to be difficult. So, if you are worried that the finals for your courses are going to be tough, then that worry is probably valid. If the Avengers had underestimated Thanos, they would not have brought their full force to the fight and victory would have been impossible. Similarly, to prepare adequately for any exam, you have to recognize that it will most likely be challenging.

However, I think this should just be a starting point for your exam preparation. Spending too much time contemplating the complexity of upcoming exams can rob you of both joy and time. It may leave you feeling helpless and that is not what we want. I believe that once you have a clear idea of what you are up against, you need to embrace collaboration. It took an army to take Thanos down and the same is true for these finals.

In high school, many people think of academics as an individual competition, but in university, academics are a team sport. In my experience, there have been concepts that other people understood instantly that took me a while to fully comprehend and vice versa. So, I think it is essential to be a part of study groups so that you can get help from other people on topics you might be weaker in and affirm your understanding of the topics you know well by assisting others.

And finally, have some faith in yourself!

Just like in Endgame, the Avengers did not learn everything they needed to win the war in that one fight. Instead, it was an accumulation of everything they had learned previously that gave them the victory. Yes, they fought their hardest on that day, but they had to trust that all their previous training and smaller battles had prepared them enough to win the war.

It is highly unlikely that in the next two weeks anyone is going to be able to go through every note from every lecture or every course and practice every variation of questions that can be asked in their finals. In my opinion, it is impossible to do everything, but you must trust that what you are able to do will be enough. Have faith, not in what you can accomplish in two weeks, but in all the work you have put into your courses since the beginning of this semester.

I think we often put so much pressure on ourselves to do something miraculous during finals season but forget that consistent work throughout the semester is the game-changer.