It’s that time of the year again, folks, and no, I am not talking about wedding season. As most of you may know, and I feel terribly sorry for those who don’t (well, not really), final exams are less than two weeks away. And while the University is heinously cruel for having final exams while many of us are still suffering from our tryptophan-induced comas, we are nevertheless faced with this inevitable academic wake-up call.

To study or not to study? That now becomes the question. Statistics are not needed to illustrate that most students choose the latter. That is not to say that most students neglect studying completely and rely on their opinion that the teacher maybe perhaps once winked at them; long forgotten is the art of studying well prior to the actual exam ‘ today’s student lives and dies by the technique of the cram.

This act of studying at the last minute, trying to stuff much more information into the human brain than it can possibly hold, has become synonymous with ‘college.’ As the libraries will begin to stay open 24 hours a day, it is undeniable that the phenomenon is starting to infiltrate our Binghamton campus.

This specific method of preparing for final exams has become relatively accepted in college culture. Equally accepted is the opinion among professionals and psychologists that cramming is relatively ineffective. That is, if your test is not simply composed of reciting the constitutional amendments or recalling how many times President Bush mispronounced ‘nuclear,’ cramming does not fill the void that weeks of slacking off created.

More disputed than the effectiveness of cramming is its necessity. Students undeniably face overwhelming amounts of work, especially as the semester nears its end. However, do we truly not have enough time to devote an hour each day to prepare for final exams? The answer no one wishes to admit to is that we do, but we choose not to utilize our free time in such a productive manner. There are more important things to do: play ‘Guitar Hero,’ watch TV and get drunk.

Studying is definitely an inconvenience, and the temptation of saving it all until the last minute is almost irresistible. However, you’d be surprised how simple it is, and ultimately how less stressful, to study in small increments leading up to final exams. Though I doubt many of you will listen, contemplate not having to crack open that ice cold Red Bull and start studying before finals week rolls around.

Now don’t get me wrong, if college was all about work it would not be deemed the best four years of your life. Nevertheless, it is important that we do not overlook the importance of our academic lives and just concentrate on our social ones. Finals cap off a semester’s worth of hard work and learning. Whether or not what we’ve learned is actually important is unfortunately irrelevant. The grade you receive on your finals will impact your GPA all the same. So heck, even if you didn’t work hard all semester, there is no better time to start than now.