As spring returns, students are preparing for finals again. Finals can be overwhelming for any student but especially for Freshmen, when everything is new. The Pawprint polled over 13 sophomores to see what tests they found the hardest. After that, PawPrint searched out Sophomores who succeeded in their finals, Honors Biology and French II Honors, to learn how to prepare.
Mekai Howard described the Honors Biology final as the hardest exam he took freshman year. “It was a lot of information,” he said. “We had to not only just memorize and learn these terms, but on the test you had to apply it…even if you knew the definition, you had to use information about how it works to then answer other questions.”
Howard said he prepared by combining his notes from each unit into a large study document. “I just read that and re-read,” he said. “Sometimes I wrote it down, and I also looked over videos that Mrs. Martino had posted.”
The course is taught by Mrs. Martino, who also teaches Level 1 and AP Biology. “I like to do a big review of the last two or three days in class,” she said. “We talk about the most important terms and the most important ideas and concepts that will be covered in the final.”
Mrs. Martino wasn’t surprised that some students consider the exam difficult. “I think my final is challenging, but I also think that by this point in the year, students have developed a greater understanding, and they tend to do better than they expect.”
Sophomore Libby Burns also believes that preparation is key. “I went over all my notes from the year,” she said. “Definitely study because it’s very important, and the process of elimination really helped.” Burns also said that the process of preparing helped her learn new study habits, “Learning how to study really helped me for other finals,” she said.
For other students, the final exam in Honors French II was just as challenging. Taylor Breen said it was “definitely one of the hardest finals” because of the complexity of the language. “There are so many different rules, and it’s a completely different language that we only started learning a few years ago, so it’s still challenging,” she said.
To prepare, Breen used a variety of study tools provided by her teacher, Ms. Finnegan. “She gave us a lot of Quizlets and resources, so I used those,” she said. “We also had a notecard we could use, and I filled it with a lot of verb conjugations.” Breen’s advice to future students is to “pay attention to the smaller details” and “know the different rules between verbs, present tense, and past tense.”
Honors French is taught by Ms. Finnegan, who teaches French 1 at the Middle school and French 2-4 at the high school. She explained that her goal is to ensure her students know what to expect on the final exam. “We do a lot of reviews, games, and a lot of practice”, she said. Ms. Finnegan said, “I give them examples of how it would be on the test, and I give them a review packet.”
Ms. Finnegan recommends flashcards and vocabulary practice, but also gives listening activities to do with her students to help comprehension. “I do a lot of listening activities with them, reviewing vocabulary,” she said.
Another sophomore, Abbie Graham, also found the French final difficult. “It was the hardest for me,” she said. “Trying to remember a language I don’t really know was hard.”
Graham prepared by reviewing packets and creating flashcards. She claimed that the materials given out in class were helpful. “A lot of the things Ms. Finnegan gives you to help you will be on the final, so use them to your advantage,” she said.
Both classes asked more of students than memorization, including understanding, practice, and the ability to apply key information. “I learned what worked for me,” Howard said.
Although each student’s experiences are different, their reflections show that freshman year finals, especially in Honors classes, can help them prepare for future academic challenges.
