Eastern is offering solutions to get through midterm exams, which some say is the most challenging period in a student’s college career.

As students enter midterm week, the question of how to start studying for midterms may arise, and one way students can prepare is by starting with a plan, according to Kylie Russell, a graduate student studying counseling who works at the Student Success Center.

She said by starting with a plan, students can prioritize and organize what is most important for their studying process.

As far as studying goes, Russell said there are many different options to use such as flash cards, Quizlet and study guides.

However, Russell said to focus mostly on studying techniques and recommends a technique called active recalling.

“With active recalling there is various study strategies that you can use, and studies have shown that this is the most effective way to remember information long term, to take that short term information and putting into your long term memory so you can recall it at any point,” Russell said.

Using the active recalling technique will help for all future tests and potentially a future career, Rusell said. This technique includes reading over notes and power points from the class and making note cards with a question on the front and the answer on the back.

“Studies also say that putting the information in question format takes a new set of skills that helps you remember information easier,” Russell said.

While midterms can be a stressful time for students, it is recommended that students also make sure to take care of their mental health while studying.

Jake Spinnato, a graduate student studying counseling who works at the Student Success Center, said it is important to study close to the date a test is being taken.

“Use either a planner or a to do list,” Spinnato said. “Having a game plan for each day will help. I know that a lot of studies show that if you look at your notes 48 hours in advance to your test that leads to an 80 percent retention rate, so a lot of the actually remembering process starts 48 hours before, so you’re going to be more playing the memory game if you’re studying the night before than if you study in advance.”

Spinnato also suggested studying in intervals of 45 minutes then taking a 15-minute break.

“This allows you to focus for 45 minutes because we all know that humans only have an attention span for so long, so then you can take in that information with an active mind, and then give yourself a break to let you absorb that information, which helps reduce anxiety,” Spinnato said.

Russell said that beyond studying, eating a good diet and exercising will help with the reduction of anxiety as well.

There are many other ways to reduce stress and anxiety, but the key is finding what techniques work best for the individual.

In addition to studying effectively, the location that is chosen to study should be taken into consideration.

Usually the library is the most popular place to study on campus.

Within Booth Library, there are many places to study; the most popular places are the quiet rooms that are located on the fourth floor.

Beth Heldebrandt, the public relations director for Booth Library, mentioned the new launch of reserving the quiet rooms.

Heldebrandt said students can now reserve quiet rooms on the library’s website two weeks prior to the date with a study group of two or more students.

The reservations are for two hours at a time.

Kylie Ferriman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected]