At this point of the school year, volition is crucial. Reviews, unit quizzes, final projects, and of course, finals themselves are approaching sooner than some of us are ready for. Are you nervous, anxious or even terrified? Almost certainly; keep working anyway.

I know it’s close to summer and it seems so easy to coast to the end, but it’ll honestly save a lot of frustration and stress if you don’t waste time between now and the end. Even if they don’t seem to matter, final tests will be taxing. No matter your grade, but especially freshmen and seniors, these next few weeks are crucial—for freshmen, to solidify a good start, and for seniors, to go out with a bang.

How to do this? Much like you would conduct a football play. Make sure you have a game plan and stick to it; write everything you need to do down and know how much time it takes to get from point A to point B. Compartmentalize; don’t run 50 yards, run five yards first, and then run another five. Keep your feet on the ground, but your eyes up and on your goal; if you’re in a tight space right now, don’t mull over it and focus on the goal. Don’t ignore your changing atmosphere, and always dodge incoming blows or take sudden opportunities to get ahead. If you get tackled, get back up. What matters isn’t winning, it’s the fact you tried your hardest during the game.

You know, I’m not a sports person, but I’m really getting the hang of these metaphors.