For those who are not UC Berkeley students or alumni, but are simply Cal fans or rising freshmen, you may be surprised to learn that not everyone uses dead week to study. Dead week is the common nickname for Berkeley’s “Reading, Review and Recitation” week — the week before finals with no class, so you can dedicate all of your time to study. Some students believe there is an unsaid fourth R — rest. They master that fourth R, taking their rest to new heights. Yes, I’m talking about you, day trip-maxxers.
Everyone spends their dead week differently to prepare them for the finals they’re about to endure.
The Home(town)body
Even though it’s the second-to-last week of the semester, you still manage to flee Berkeley and go home. You’ll enjoy your favorite homemade meal while studying in your childhood bedroom, surrounded by your favorite stuffed animals. Or you just max out that fourth R for as long as you can, then come back to Berkeley for a few days to cram.
Day trip-maxxer
For you guys, this is the week to venture on all the day trips you wanted to do during the semester, but didn’t have time. One day you’re on the Golden Gate Bridge, and the next you’re hiking Half Dome in Yosemite. You are the UC Berkeley adrenaline junkie getting it all out before finals suck the life out of you.
Professional club tripper
If you’ve finished all of your club projects, you’re on a flight to either Hawaii or Mexico for a few days to celebrate your hard work and hang out with your p-bros. While you’re posting beach photos on Instagram, everyone else will be wishing they were there while stuck in the library.
Main Stacker
This is often the week UC Berkeley starts to feel more like the University of California, Berkeley. You’re the stereotypical student who hasn’t seen daylight in forever and is trying not to crash out about your data science, physics and math finals that you absolutely need to pass. Your butt has officially molded to that wooden chair, which you only get up from for the midnight scream to let out your frustration.
Procrastinator
This is your spring break 2.0, or simply an extra-long weekend. You may do a day trip or hang out with friends around Berkeley. You’ll enjoy the good weather, deep clean your room or do laundry — literally anything to avoid studying. You might use the classic “I need to hit the gym” excuse or just sleep all day for seven days straight. Then the weekend before your finals start, you’ll suddenly become a Main Stacker, wishing you had started studying sooner.
In betweener
If you’re like me and don’t have the attention span to study all day for five days, plus the extra four weekend days on either side, you want a good study-life balance. You may do a day trip one day, or chill by the pool on Clark Kerr Campus to maximize your tanning and studying time. You study a few hours, then decide you’ve worked hard enough and treat yourself to some Yogurt Park.
No matter how you decide to spend your RRR-R week, the best I can do is predict your habits and wish you the best of luck on your finals.