Finals Week returns: Semester 1 reflections
At the end of each semester, students are required to take final exams. The final exam can be a paper test, a project, or even a pacer test. Whatever it may be, students and teachers can experience different emotions such as stress or relief.
“I think it was pretty good. I was really stressed and scared, but I’m happy that I got to do it,” said freshman Emily Potter when asked about how she felt about her first final. When asked how she felt being done with the finals, Potter said, “Relieving. After I took my last final, I was so relieved because I was like okay I’m done I can go on break, I don’t have to study, I don’t have to worry about anything and it felt really good. It felt like all the weight was pushed off my back.”
Sophomore Amelia Buckert said that “…now that I’ve gotten my first finals over, I know what to expect for the next one and I’ll know how to be better prepared. I feel good going into the second semester knowing that finals are behind me and I won’t have to worry about taking them again for another couple of months.”
A 2018 study has shown that finals and midterms are accounted as the top source of stress for 31 percent of U.S. students. Students may be stressed over finals in general or even a certain subject.
Emily and Amelia were asked if there was a certain subject that made them feel nervous.
“I was really nervous about math because I was scared that I was going to fail it because I didn’t really know what I was doing to be honest and I really didn’t know how to study for math…other than doing the problems over and over again,” said Potter
Buckert said, “I was really nervous about my chemistry final. Chemistry is my hardest subject and it was also the last final I had to take so I felt a lot of stress and anticipation leading up to it. In the end it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
Ms. Rosin, who teaches math at DePaul, was asked what kinds of stresses she feels during finals and how she deals with them.
“I think all teachers just want their students to do well and with final exams, we have a little bit of control in allowing you guys to have time in class but it’s pretty much in your control how much you choose to study or not study so I think that’s like the scariest thing and the biggest stressor for teachers is we just have to wait and see.”
Although the finals may be stressful, there are stress relievers that can help you ease your nerves. We can also get advice. Junior Clarisse Lorin had some advice to offer her younger self.
“I wish I told my younger self to make study guides way ahead of time and to study longer and harder than I had in the past,” she said.
Ms. Rosin also has advice for students about finals. “I would say that not cramming would be the best advice so breaking up their study strategies like maybe a half hour each night for two weeks is probably the best way to study, and obviously for math just being very active and practicing problems instead of reading through them.”
Everyone experiences many different emotions during finals whether it’s stress, relief, or excitement. Whatever it may be, it is very relieving to be done with them. After the finals are over, you feel really good about yourself. As Ameilia Buckert said, “I was really nervous leading up to it but now that it’s behind me, I definitely feel less stressed and the finals were definitely more manageable than I thought they would be.”