The Final Stretch Before Summer

The following was written by CHS sophomore Amanda Romano for her Journalism & Publishing class. Final exams began this week and will continue until Tuesday, June 21.

You’ve heard of being sent to hell and solitary confinement. Now be prepared to be sent to the last week of high school — finals week. Teachers cram an entire year’s worth of information within a review packet and expect us students to be able to memorize it for a four-page test, which only takes up 20 percent of our grade.

This is my second year taking finals here at Canton High, and like most students, I am terrified of the week of tear-filled nights and coffee blood streams. One of the hardest things about studying for these finals is keeping focused. Let me just tell you how hard it is to keep focused while the sun is shining, birds are chirping, and the never-ending buzzing of your phone torments you.

But, lucky for you, I interviewed a few students who know what they’re doing come finals week and teachers who want to give us finals as much as we want to take them.

Junior Abbie Burchard told me that she, like most students, studies “the week before the final,” which was seconded by another junior, Amanda Folan. Depending on the student and the classes the student is taking can impact the way the student studies and what he or she uses for study aids, such as flashcards or music.

“[Music] is relaxing for a lot of people,” Burchard said. “It won’t be helpful for everyone, but it is helpful if you like music.”

Burchard said she has used these methods in past years and has done perfectly fine on her final exams. Folan agreed, but added that she can get “a little distracted.” Folan also pointed out how most kids study like this.

As all people told me, one must look over their notes, get a good breakfast and a good night’s rest to be fully prepared mentally. Junior Isabelle Williams advised, “The night before a final you definitely should get as much sleep as you possibly can, but not too much because you’ll be tired when you wake up.”

Williams pointed out the irregularity of teenage sleep patterns, which according to nationwidechildrens.org amounts to between seven and seven and a half hours of sleep while we need between 9 and 9 ½. Other students such as myself have realized this also.

However, as with every story, there are two points of view — in this case, the students and the teachers.

While the students don’t want to study or take them, the teachers don’t want to give them.

AP English teacher Patrick Murphy gave me the inside scoop as to what goes on in teachers’ minds in the closing months of the school year. While Murphy does not make the finals test due to the AP exam, he understands the effort that goes into making it. Besides giving constant reminders and giving students time to study during class, he also uses a technology-based resource called Google Classroom to send out earlier assignments to help prepare them with material they may not remember.

His advice to students with anxiety and other worries about exams is to “compartmentalize, make lists [and] prepare themselves.”

“The more prepared, the less unknowns,” he said, “and the less unknowns, the less anxiety.”

While students are quick to jump down teachers’ throats and teachers are ready to collapse by June, most people in the school just want finals to be over. The seemingly ephemeral summer is much better with the kind of motivation and correct preparedness for a final than weeks of regret upon not studying.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=33592

Posted by Guest on Jun 17 2016. Filed under Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.