If participating in late-night study sessions at the library and memorizing stacks of flashcards isn’t your thing, you can always hope for a miracle.

Whether it’s a family emergency, illness or simply a kind-hearted professor, sometimes luck is on your side during finals week.

Christa Whitehair, senior middle childhood education major, lucked out when her social problems professor was a no-show during the scheduled exam time.

“We all sat there for about 25 minutes, then just left,” Whitehair recalled. “Turns out my professor was sick and couldn’t hold the final.”

Whitehair said the university sent out an e-mail to each student explaining how they would have to take the exam at a new time, but that “new time” never reared its ugly head.

“Our professor e-mailed us and just said it was her fault and there would be no final,” she said.

And sometimes, by the time exam week rolls around, professors are just as tired out as the students.

Michelle Greathouse, senior zoology student, will always remember when her freshman honors English colloquium professor announced that instead of taking the final exam, he was going to have the students over for a food fest instead.

“It was a really nice surprise,” she said.

And in some cases, hard work throughout the semester makes it OK to not study for the final.

“I convinced my older brother not to study for his abnormal psychology exam because his other past grades were high enough,” said Michael Subichin, senior integrated life sciences major. “He got a 54 percent on the final, but still ended up with an A in the class because he had a high enough average going into the exam.”

— Sara Macho