Being buried in textbooks, flipping through your notebook, and flashcards for the tenth time in a row are all a part of what studying for semester finals look like.
Students must look back at entire curriculums for their classes in preparation for final exams, worth ten percent of a student’s final grade. Is this stress worth it, or is there something that can fix this recurring issue?
Memorizing entire courses for one exam per class is quite tedious, but it is something that students are put under pressure for every semester, on top of other academic commitments.
“I felt very stressed out, and it was on top of the keystones as well, so it felt like a lot to take on all at once,” freshman Scarlett Rein said.
Studying for all of this time leaves students stressed and can affect aspects of physical health. According to an article by Embark Behavioral Health, finals can cause stomach pain or headaches and can take a toll on long-term student mental health.
“Finals stress can affect any student but can be especially challenging for high school juniors applying to colleges, as their grades will be important to their applications,” the article stated. “This can cause students to worry excessively, leading to difficulty concentrating, negative thinking, and self-criticism.”
But enough about the stress element. When it comes down to it, are finals fair? Sophomore Rheya Singh disagrees.
“It’s messed up because your grade can only go down [from finals], it can’t go up,” Singh said. “Someone who has math second block has [less] time to study than someone who has it fourth block.”
I enjoy having the two half-days and would certainly not want to have all of my finals in one day, but is there a more convenient way to ensure equal study time for all classes? It seems unlikely, but a possible solution would be to improve study habits.
“I enjoy using flashcards, and I also like teaching someone else, like sitting my brother down [to review] environmental science,” Rein said.
Nonetheless, junior Orli Schoff thinks the brief study window that finals provide is not ideal.
“More time should be built in for teachers to review,” Schoff said. “I wish there was more time in school to study.”
While the concept of our finals is imperfect, how we do things around here makes sense. Still, different practices in the future could help decrease student stress and improve our finals.*
