The school year is coming to an end. After a long year dealing with homework, tests, sports, and of course, COVID-19, it’s a relief that we’ll all be going home this June. It’s all over now; or is it? Unlike last year, when everyone was still online, this year’s finals are a go, and though teachers are invited to replace them with projects or smaller tests, many classes are going with the traditional exam. How do people feel about it? Let’s take a deeper look.

A traditional exam works very well for traditional school; in-person. And most people would agree that they would be better prepared if the entire school year had been in-person. Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions didn’t allow for an in-person year for everyone, as some people were online for the entire year, and everyone was online 3 days a week up until November, which limited things specific to the school, such as labs and other things that needed to be done physically.

Even now, Wednesday classes are online, and that poses a problem for those who don’t learn well through Zoom. “The main issue with finals this year is that Zoom classes made particular aspects of classes much more difficult to learn, leaving less of a proper grasp of the material for the finals,” said Jack Hebert ‘23. Jack thinks that it would have been better to receive projects instead of exams, like last year. “I think it would be much easier to apply oneself in a hybrid learning system with major projects than over tests, as projects also have a good amount of room for students to get creative or work on something they feel passionate about.” 

The freshmen and sophomores will have a rough time of it all. The last time the 10th grade had a big exam was in December of 2019. Even worse, the freshmen have never taken a test like this, which would obviously make anyone nervous. However, Jalen Stewart ‘24 said that he “wasn’t nervous about the finals this year.” This is probably due to the fact that teachers in 9th grade often provide study guides, and there will also be review in a few class periods during the week of June 1st. So, despite the fact that many teachers that are assigning finals, helpful study guides and review days will offset the stress that is caused. Jack Hebert ‘23, on the other hand, said he “was fairly nervous,” as these were the first full-year cumulative tests he’s ever taken. However, he said he wasn’t doing anything special this year to study for finals, at least not until a later date. Students, especially 9th graders, should prepare themselves for how they’re going to study, and they should know that they can always reach out to their teachers for aid and assistance.

If you’re feeling worried about finals this year, don’t be. It’s only natural to feel stressed out or nervous, but just try to remember that decades worth of students have taken finals just like this in more stressful situations in the past. As Mrs. Zug stated, “It is a skill to practice, however, and once students have gone through it they are much less worried.” Even if these reassurances don’t work to calm your nerves, just remember that in less than a month, school will be over!