Finals are a stressful time, but if students choose to be proactive with their time, and use effective study management, they will see success in their studies.
On December 22, Hoffman Estates High School’s first semester will end. In the break between the first and second semester is the calm of winter break.
“I’m excited for winter break because I get to go to North Carolina,” said Adara Kaul, sophomore.
Yet, before the calm of winter break, a student needs to go through the “finale” of the first semester: Finals.
Finals are often characterized by stress, as the tests are worth at least 20 percent of a student’s grade.
Besides the objective need for students to maintain their grades, many students are using finals as an opportunity to improve their grades.
“I’m moderately stressed about finals because I have a class where I need to desperately get my grade up,” said Gabrielle Cordova, junior.
Nevertheless, the stress of finals is highly dependent on the individual’s priorities. For example, one student says, “I’m gaslighting myself into thinking they don’t exist,” said Tiffany Burghelea, sophomore.
Studying is extremely individualized. Often, students use different resources in order to help them prepare. “I’d use the extended hours and go tutoring,” said Maddy Bell, junior.
Besides the actual grades, time consumption is a large stress in the context of finals. Taking these tests require an extensive amount of studying, and Bell resonates with this idea: “I’m staying [at school] so late. Just doing math. I’m here till 5 p.m. every day working on math,” said Bell. After she said this, she promptly left for more tutoring in math.
Even though finals are a tough and stressful time, student results are completely in their control. One way to study is to “review notes and study guides, look over old quizzes and worksheets, and to quiz a friend,” said Kirsten Coakley, English teacher.
Coakley further claims “students put too much pressure on themselves to be perfect. Learning is the goal, and if they’ve kept up with work all semester they should be fine.”
