As final’s week approaches, the hallways are filled with more than just normal conversations; there is a mix of stress, motivation, and determination all occurring in students’ minds. With finals week right around the corner, students have different ways of preparing, coping with the stress, and have many opinions about their exams.
This year, final’s week starts on the week of June second. Seniors exams are first occurring on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week, with makeup exams available on June 9th. All students, except for seniors, have exams starting on Thursday, June 5th and ending the following week on Tuesday, June 10th, with makeup exams being taken on Wednesday, June 11th.
Many students have already begun their study routines, and are hoping to walk into their exams confident and prepared. Finals are very important for the freshman, given that this is going to be their first time experiencing final exams in high school.
Freshman Bella Santello has discovered new study strategies for herself, “To prepare for finals, I use the study guides given, and if I still don’t understand the topic after the study guide, then I write down more problems or questions depending on the class. The hardest final for me will probably be history because it is not my favorite subject.” Bella has stress during this time because she wants to do the best she can and strives for a good grade in all of her classes.
However, Freshman Leila Chusino is not nervous for finals, and she has found good study habits she is confident in, “I’m not too nervous for finals, as midterms went well for me, and I know what to prepare for. I am working on creating study guides for my classes, which I will review often. I think that Honors Biology will be the hardest, since it’s a lot of complex information.”
Gimkit is very popular among Morgan. Gimkit is a platform where students can compete in different games by earning points for each question that they get right. Gimkit is used in school a lot because it allows the students to compete with each other and learn at the same time. To check Gimkit out go to this link: Gimkit
With finals week comes a lot of stress on students. Students are finding ways to deal with this stress. Sophomore, Abbie Graham, manages her stress very well, “I try to make sure I give myself enough time without overworking myself. I will study and then if I feel myself getting stressed I will go eat a snack or listen to music.”
Students who play sports in the spring, have games during finals week, this forces them to have good time management skills. Sophomore Emma Teuner plays lacrosse and basketball in the spring. Emma has very good time management, which gives her enough time to study and attend practices and games, “I balance studying and sports by creating a schedule for working on my study guides. After practice or a game, I make sure to follow my schedule and complete each study guide in the weeks leading up to finals.
AI has influenced a lot of students studying tactics. There are lots of different AI’s that students use. There is Chat GPT, SnapChat AI, and the AI that pops up on Google. Sophomore Kiera Flannigan uses Chat GPT to study, “Chat GPT makes me study guides and study material for most of my classes, which really helps me especially because finals week is coming up. It also saves me a lot of time since I am very busy in the spring.”
Junior year is the most stressful year for most people. Adding finals on top of AP classes, Junior Portfolio, college decisions, and lots of tests can be very challenging. Junior Katherine Barrera, expressed her feelings about finals week coming up and junior year overall, “I’m feeling prepared for finals, but also stressed. My final grades for junior year will really impact how my GPA will look like for colleges next school year, so there’s additional stress.”
Colleges pay less attention to students’ GPAs compared to previous years. Final exams impact students’ final grade for the year and students’ GPAs are greatly affected by the end of year grade. Colleges still look at GPAs, but they consider them alongside other factors like essays, extracurricular activities, and some test scores. GPAs have become very competitive given that they can affect which colleges students get into and it also affects students rank in their class. To learn more about GPAs visit Grade Inflation.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has some very good advice for studying. The university believes that studying requires active engagement, strategic planning, and consistent effort. Reading and highlighting is not enough and not an effective way to study. Studying in 30-45 minute time periods is very effective. Having breaks between the study sessions is very important because it boosts productivity and attention. The location of where studying occurs is a big factor in being productive. Studying where you focus best is a good strategy. Also turning off any distractions, like phones or social media is also a good idea. For more study tips visit Studying 101-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Morgan doesn’t offer any programs to help students study for finals. Students can always go to their teacher with any questions or concerns. In Clinton there is a place to help students study, which is called Study Hall. Study Hall is located on 153 Glenwood Road. Students of all ages and levels can go to Study Hall for help with studying for their finals. To learn more visit Study Hall.
