Finals Before Break

[Halle Gitelson]

Finals, a torturous way of making us students smash all the information we’ve learned in a semester into our minds. Our school just came off winter break and the first day back we are already talking about preparing for them. I don’t know about you, but it’s really starting to stress me out. On top of the mountains of homework we receive normally, myself and a lot of my friends had piles to do over break which doesn’t ease the stress for finals. I personally believe that we students would benefit from having these tests the week before we go on break rather than when we come back. This switch would relieve the pressure that we as students have, as well as giving us an advantage to getting a better score on our finals.

Does this picture remind you of what you look like when you are trying to cram everything you learned first semester into about three nights of studying? I know that’s what I must appear to be.

My cousins that live out in Washington state have their finals before they leave for winter break and were shocked to hear that at Fremd we have ours after we come back. They said that it is a huge convenience to them because once they slam their pencil down on that desk after their last question, all the weight is lifted off their shoulders and they can have a care free winter break. Now us on the other hand, we have to worry all break about what information we are going to need to know in order for us to succeed on these tests. Also, holding the finals before we leave will help us score higher. This is because the information will be fresh and running in our heads. How many of you actually study over break and don’t save your homework until the last day? I know that my first day back was like an absolute blank slate, I couldn’t remember anything.  Studies have shown that students actually will get higher grades if the information is still fresh and new in their minds...obviously. If we have two weeks off from learning entirely our brains basically turn to mush and we have to get back into our daily routines and learning styles. What’s your opinion on the topic, finals before or after winter break? Do you even mind taking finals, or think that they benefit us?

[Michael Naselli]

I was just telling my cousins that live in Oregon that we have finals before break and they were amazed too. It sucks that we have to take this long tests after having to weeks off for the holidays where you sit around eat a lot of food and forget a majority of the information you've accumulated over the last 4 months. I AGREE 100% finals should before break

[Keely Ward]

Finals before break would help so many people. If the semester ended before winter break people wouldn't only have to worry about finals, but lots of tests happen happen too. The first two weeks back from break only forces students to remember everything they learned two weeks ago, instead of them starting off with a clean slate.

[Josh Jyawook]

finals should definatley be before break becasue kids would remember more that they have learned. this would only make grades and test scores better. the two week break only makes students forget most of the stuff the have leaned. i think that finals should be swtiuched to before break becasue it would make life so much easier and grades would improve soo much/

[suzanne reidelberger]

Finals should absolutely be before break. Students are much less likely to study when they have all that time away from school, especially considering many travel during the holiday season. Also, its much more logical to take an exam as large and important as the final when the information is still fresh in your mind. Its almost like a cruel joke-- "Happy winter break! Feel free to forget all you've learned! Oh, welcome back! Here's the test. Have fun."

[Garrett O'Reilly]

I would love if this happened. Maybe the excuse is that students have a lot of free time to study over break! I planned to my self, and I clocked in a whole zero hours of studying. The only downside I see to this is that teachers will have less time to teach things in. I see finals as big tests, so they don't really bother me as long as I stay on top of all my homework and study first quarter topics, I can usually pull though just fine.

[Caitlin Hirota]

I don't think there's even a debate about whether finals should be before break or not. I can't think of a single good reason why it should be after break. On that last day of school before break, we're all already excited for whatever we have planned. Some students might go somewhere throughout the whole break and not even have a chance to study. Other students might just sit in front of the TV or computer screen. Either way, the one thing we're not doing is thinking about school or homework...until the last day of break, that is. By then, it's a guarantee that we don't remember as much as we do before break. The 2 weeks we have before finals is complete hell because we're being buried in final reviews packets and most of the material we'll stare at and think, "I don't think we even learned this..." I think finals should definitely be before break because when that final school bell rings, we can be completely care free and not have to remember anything and just come back to school after wards and start a brand new semester.

[Clayton Cox]

I agree! (same as libby!) I think it is a terrible idea to have finals two weeks after break. the two and a half weeks or so is not enough time for us to have to cram in our last lessons annnnd review all of the semester info. I think that our school as a whole, we would benefit way more from havig our finals before break, not after. Once we finished, we would have a good long break before we came back and started the second semester after the new year.

[Libby Wright]

We actually talked about this in our American Studies class today (McCusker and Marsh 7th and 8th). I think this is a fantastic idea. Instead of relaxing on my winter break, I had to do homework when I wasnt busy. With finals being before we would get to enjoy our long two week break and start fresh right when we come back to school. Mr. McCusker brought up a great point in saying that a good percentage of student's grades go down from after Winter Break. And also, the information is all fresh in their minds and then they have two weeks to do whatever they want!

[Alex Ladzinski]

Everyone I talked to about this says that they would much rather take finals before break and I completely agree. I want to be able to relax and take it easy without worry instead of having the pressure of taking all of these tests when I come back. Teachers would be able to start new lessons instead of reviewing every single thing they tought a few weeks ago, and students like me would have everything fresh in their heads if they were to take the finals immediatly. They'd be use to studying over everything instead of having a huge stockpile of papers right after taking a nice, relaxing break.

[Bobby Mihov]

I absolutely hate the stress that happens before finals especially if the classes are hard and anyway, who can remember that much information and knowledge? That's insane. We should at least take them before break so the lessons are still fresh in our minds and winter break hasn't overshadowed everything we've learned.