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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

Finals should be before winter break

Finals+should+be+before+winter+break

studying Sitting by my Christmas tree while I’m watching a Christmas movie, I’m absorbed in the holiday spirit. Yet in the back of my mind, the stress of finals linger.

I want to spend my longest break of the school year carelessly enjoying the holidays, but in the back of my mind I know that the stress of finals week is approaching, and I should get started studying.

The school needs to give the students their holiday presents, and let us spend two weeks without stressing out over school work. Finals need to be scheduled before winter break because students would be more prepared for finals with information fresh in our minds, and would do much better.

If finals were before break, we wouldn’t have to readjust to our curriculum, and we could be more successful in testing. Although some may think that testing before or after break makes no difference, they don’t realize that most students don’t review their school work over break, and many students show up back to school unprepared and stressed for finals, which leads to restless nights and cramming.

This year, our finals are scheduled to be a week after we come back to school. Teachers will have one week to quickly review with students the material that we will most likely forget over two weeks out of school. This system is counterproductive when we could just be tested before break.

emily matthews

I know that regardless of how much work I have, I won’t feel motivated enough to do it during break, when I’m distracted by the holiday excitement. I need to focus on school while it’s in session, not when I’m enjoying time with my friends and family.

Nearby schools, like Bishop O’Dowd, have their finals before winter break, and we should be following their example. If we cannot get finals before break we should at least have a few weeks before finals like Oakland Tech, instead of one week right before finals.

There’s no reason why students should consume their two weeks of freedom thinking about what grades they need to get on their finals and how much they should study. Having two weeks off, then a week of limited review doesn’t benefit anyone. It stresses out students, and it stresses out teachers, creating a harsh learning environment.

During my break, I want to go skiing, I want to travel to see my family, I want to spend time with my friends, and see people who have come back home for the holidays. But now, because of the limited time I have to prepare for finals after break, I need to focus my time over break to study, when all I want to do is relax.

Perhaps if we had a stress free break, people would be more excited to return to school and start classes again.

Do us a favor and give us a real holiday.

Contact Emily Mathews at ematthews@tphnews.com

 

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