Finals season is upon our school as the semester is about to change and students are moving to their new classes.
I’m not alone when I say that finals are one of the most stressful parts of high school. A study from Cerritos College writes, “The panic preceding finals appears to result from two general causes: distorted thinking about exams and behavioral patterns in preparing for them.”
I believe this claim to be true, having to think about several crucial tests at the same time becomes a burden very quickly. Along with that, the difficulty of being able to thoroughly study each subject gets overwhelming and it adds to the distress.
I asked one person from each grade in our school, “Do you think finals are stressful and why?” The results all have one thing in common, finals are indeed stressful.
A person who is in their senior year claims, “I think finals are stressful because of how much it determines if you pass or not, you know? If you get say a 70 on a final or have a lower grade in a class and then get a low grade on the final, it can really mess with your overall success in that class.”. This person makes a good point, your overall grade in a class heavily relies on what grade you receive on a final and can put a lot of pressure on a student’s shoulders.
A sophomore has a simpler answer, but again, believes that the tests are stressful. “Yes, because I’m afraid to fail. Studying for them is stressful, and sitting in a silent room while taking them is stressful.” Silent spaces can induce anxiety for some, needing some type of noise to be able to focus is a struggle that is more common than people may think. Background noise can create a sense of calm in a time of worry such as taking these exams.
Some might say that Junior year is the most difficult of the four since the idea of going to college is slowly becoming a reality and making sure your transcript looks good for colleges to see in the coming year. The junior I interviewed about finals states her position on finals as: “They’re stressful when the class is really important to pass. There’s a lot of pressure on yourself and studying gets more stressful when you overwork yourself.”
As the quote from Cerritos College says, behavioral patterns in preparing for finals are one of the results of the panic that is induced by the test. When a student has several tests to study for, the overwhelming task of retaining the information creates anxiety, and studying can become ineffective for some.
Finally, I interviewed a freshman who claims, “It’s a lot all at once and at the same time. They’re not spaced out enough in my opinion.”. Maybe spacing out the tests could be beneficial to the students in the aspect of studying for them. Perhaps doing one final a week per class could increase scores and make it easier to retain the material. In the end, finals season is a very stressful time of high school and causes anxiety for students in several ways.
