With the end of the semester coming, students are dreading the exams. It’s the test that counts the most toward your grade and could end up ruining it. Your teachers spend weeks trying to prepare you and rejog your memory making sure you feel the most confident about the test.  Most students end up trying to cram the information given to them into their heads the night before the test.

It’s the end of the semester. You wish you could just relax, hangout with friends, and get more sleep. But you have finals. Finals are irritating and extremely stressful for both teachers and students. Teachers assign them then take forever to grade them. Finals probably interfere with teachers’ personal lives as well. They have to grade the tests for hours to get them finished by a certain deadline, perhaps ruining a weekend, the ability to hang out with family, or make plans with a friend.

Teachers act like their final is the only one we’ll be taking. After we take their test, we have to take at least three more. Apex High School’s exam schedule actually has students taking, at most, 2 exams in one day. It would be so much easier if we only had to take one exam a day, so we’re able to study on solely one subject the night before.  

One test grade cannot define a student’s true performance in the class they took. The day a student takes their final, many factors could contribute to their test grade. Stress, personal issues at home or school, and how their day has been could contribute to their end score.

The student may have performed steadily in the class, having an A or B, but this one test grade could bring them down a whole letter grade because they did not have the right frame of mind the day they took the test.

School is already stressful enough, having to take multiple tests and quizzes throughout the semester, preparing for SATs and ACTs, and extracurriculars. Bachelor’s Degree Online says, “For both females and males between the ages of 13 and 17, school stood as their primary conduit of super stress.” Finals add another load of studying and stress to a student’s already stressful life.

But even with all this bad news about finals, there is good news. Finals can change your grade drastically which could put you in a bad position, but if you actually prepare, get a good night’s sleep, and think positively of yourself, you could bring up a failing grade to a passing grade with just one test. Finals are actually a blessing. Even though finals can cause great stress and worry, if you just face them head on and apply yourself, they can actually help you greatly.