It’s getting to the end of the term, and things are getting crazy. Suddenly, everything is due in a week, you have a million tests to take and in the meantime, everyone is getting on your nerves. Here are a few tips for getting things done, avoiding people and keeping your cool before you lose it in the middle of the café at Sunday brunch.

1.  Go to the third floor of the library. There may be people there, but it’s a quiet zone area, so it’s essentially disrespectful and impolite to talk to one another. No one has to talk to you, and you don’t have to talk to anyone else. All you have to do is your work.
2. If this is up your alley, wait for finals, during which Knox observes 24-hour quiet hours. These are also appropriate times to keep quiet and avoid conversing with anyone and everyone. For 24 hours on end, no one can bother you.
3. Go to the Beanhive or Innkeepers. No better way to get work done and avoid conversation than over coffee in the comfort of an ambient coffee shop.
4. Go outside. Autumn in Galesburg is beautiful. Take a minute to enjoy the multicolored trees and how pretty the world is. As they say in “American Beauty,” “it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world.”
5. Head to the gym. Put in some earphones, recharge and move around for a while. You’ll feel happier and ready to deal with both other people and your term paper.
6. Take advantage of Knox’s resources. Hit up one of the daily dance classes or go to Zumba. Dance your problems away.
7. Just go off the grid. Pay your roommate to check your K-box for you and don’t open your emails. Just take some time to focus in on your work, tune into your inner you and take some time away from society. For a few days, your dorm room is Walden Pond.
8. Wait for the plane (or bus or train) ride home. Let’s face it: that’s the next time you’ll genuinely have to yourself. Grin and bear it.

Kate Mishkin

Kate Mishkin is a senior majoring in English literature and minoring in journalism. She started working for TKS as a freshman and subsequently served as managing editor, co-news editor and co-mosaic editor. Kate is the recipient of four awards from the Illinois College Press Association for news and feature stories and one award from the Associated Collegiate Press. She won the Theodore Hazen Kimble Prize in 2015 and 2014 and the Ida M. Tarbell Prize in Investigate Journalism in 2014. She has interned at FILTER Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and WGIL radio and the Virginian-Pilot.

Twitter: @KateMishkin