It’s 90 minutes of what some may call sheer agony and what others see as just another test. Final exams begin for the first semester starting Wednesday.

“To be very honest, I don’t do anything to prepare for finals. All I do is the work during the semester and stay awake during class,” said sophomore Keoinia Dobson. “I want to do good on my finals, but right now it doesn’t seem too important to me.”

While Dobson and those like her do nothing special to prepare for finals, others have their game plans set in stone to succeed.

“I try my best to study one to two hours every day, two or three days before finals,” said junior Elizabeth Lipke.

“After my freshman year, I realized that how well I do on my finals really does impact my grade in the end. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how well I did on the work that was assigned during the semester because finals are that many more points,” said Lipke.

This is only one method that students may use to study and be successful while taking finals.

“I study continuously throughout the semester,” said senior Dominic Gooden. “It makes it a lot easier than trying to cram at the last minute.”

“I usually study for a total of about a half hour every night, alternating each day between his A and B day classes,” said Gooden. “It’s actually not that hard to keep it straight. I just study the classes that I had that day and in the end my finals are a lot easier to take, and I usually do pretty well on them.”

Some students rewrite the notes taken in class, others outline them. A few complete sample questions and essays.

“My tip for underclassmen is to simply use flashcards. It really isn’t that hard and helps a lot,” said Gooden.

“As long as you put some time in studying, you honestly should be fine on the finals,” said sophomore Jenna Bunde.

As far as the final itself, it can matter more or less depending on the grade you are in.

Lipke said she is determined to do very well on her finals because she knows how important they are. “Being a junior this is one of my most important years. I am really trying to buckle down and do my best on these finals,” said Lipke.

The same is true for Gooden, “Being my last year and one of my last finals, I want to finish my best.”