The time for final exams is upon us yet again. For some students, lack of sleep and excessive studying seem to have some pretty strange effects.

Their fellow classmates have seen some pretty crazy things going on around campus on Dead Day and during finals week in previous years and, boy, do they have stories to tell.

The library is the best place to go to study for exams, right? That is exactly what a few nursing students thought when they won the free study room from the Up All Night party last year.

“The people on the same floor of the library as us were partying, like for real, with loud music and dancing,” said senior Stephanie Hooie. “It was crazy.”

Sometimes, students just get really hungry while they study at Collier.

“I remember one time I saw a guy stuffing a ton of the free Krispy Kreme doughnuts they give out at the library’s Up All Night Party into his backpack,” said senior Taylor Weaver.

Looking for a quiet place to study? Every now and then, the silence is broken—not just because somebody forgot to silence his or her cell phone. 

“I’ve seen guys randomly walk into the library on dead day and yell ‘Hey y’all’ in a girly voice,” said sophomore Ryan Mason.  I guess they just do it to take everybody’s minds off of studying for a minute.”

Daniel Swope, a senior, said he was just going to the bathrooms on the third floor of the library one time on dead day when he caught an eye full.

“I was going to the third floor bathrooms because they’re the cleanest, when I saw this couple completely going at it, making out in the government literature section,” Swope said.  

Final exams may mean sleepless nights for some students, but others find ways to improvise.

“I see people passed out on the walls outside Rivers and Rice on

Dead Day and during exam week because they haven’t slept,” said senior Courtney Cook.

Senior Abby Jackson said that a few years ago she saw a guy sleeping in the corner of the library basement curled up like a baby on Dead Day.

Getting dressed also seems to lose its importance for some students during finals week.

“There was a girl that walked in to one of my 8 a.m. final exams who was still wearing her pajamas and had curlers in her hair,” said senior Matthew Cannon. “It was hilarious.”

Senior Dustin Mason saw a guy come into a final exam wearing a bathrobe over his pajamas one time.

“The test wasn’t even until like 10 a.m. and he was still in his robe,” Mason said.

Even the weather in north Alabama seems to take a crazy spin sometimes during exams.

“Last year I went to the park across from the library to study on Dead Day with some friends, and it was so warm outside in December that we wore shorts and short sleeve t-shirts,” said sophomore Amber Hood.

Some years, though, the weather is not quite so pleasant.

“This one time, on Dead Day, I saw a girl walking into my apartment complex with no shoes on, wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt,” said Chelsea Showers, a junior. “It was freezing outside that day.”

“Our weather is crazy around here,” Hood said.

There is no better way to beat the warm winter weather and monotony of studying than to go for a little swim in the fountain.

“Magic Mike was swimming in the fountain last year on Dead Day,” said sophomore Matthew Johnson. “Before he jumped in, he yelled ‘Turn Up.’”

Apparently some guys thought that alcohol and oranges were the way to go.

“I had a drunk guy walk up to me and ask for a pencil one time on Dead Day, said senior Kayla Odell. “I was walking across campus when he came up to me and I smelled the alcohol.”

Sophomore Taylor Eaves caught a little entertainment when he saw what went down outside Rivers Hall last year on Dead Day.

“In front of Rivers last year I saw some kids throwing oranges at cars going down N. Pine Street,” Eaves said. “When somebody drove up to talk to them, they threw oranges in and at the car. I knew them, but I have no clue why they were doing that on dead day.”

This may seem ironic, but the UNA Police Department has a strange week during finals and dead day just like some students do.  But, that is because they do not get as many calls said Chief Bob Pastula.

“Things are pretty quiet during this part of the semester,” Pastula said. “I guess it’s because people are actually doing so much studying.”