10.  Count down the days. Twenty-five days until Christmas also means 38 days until second semester starts.

9. Reach out to old friends. “Hey Bartholomew, I mean, uh, Reginald…Nice seeing you after so many years.”

8.  “Uh-huh.” “Yeah.” “Awesome.” Use these key phrases to survive any long-winded story from Uncle Fritz during the family Christmas get-together.

7. Pray for snow. If the smoke didn’t warrant canceling school, maybe some snow will.

6. Listen to holiday music. “Believe” by Josh Groban will mean more about having faith in last-minute finals studying than Christmas magic.

5. Judge your neighbors’ lights. Clearly, the darkness surrounding your lawn justifies putting of your neighbor’s lit-up lawn under the microscope.

4. Masquerade as a Christmas-themed character. You might think you make a great Santa, but really you're just a Grinch.

3.  Wear an ugly Christmas sweater. It’s the only time of the year when your subpar fashion choices become cool.

2. Remember to put out cookies for Santa. Who cares about the obesity epidemic as long as he can still squeeze through the chimney?

1. Buy gifts (for your teachers). No, that doesn’t mean your grades will suddenly be rounded from a C+ to an A-.