That time of year is upon us: not the Christmas merriness or jolly feeling, but the overwhelming dread and stress of finals. Why are finals needed? If so, why make it difficult? Can the finals tests not be just a survey of what one has learned the past semester and what they wish to have changed? All these questions but no definite answers. 

I, Bella Panmei, am a junior and have dreaded finals every year since seventh grade. The reason is not because I do not like taking big, hard tests, but because I deem it to be ridiculously unnecessary. Putting students under duress to just see how much they have learned in the past semester just seems superfluous and a waste of both teacher and student’s time. I, and other fellow classmates, believe that the grade that a student has in that particular class should be what determines his or her final grade. 

Sam Miller, a senior, stated that he “typically likes finals because they are challenging to him”, but he “does not like the aspect of one test being twenty percent of your grade.” Clara Licklider is fully opposed against the idea of finals and believes that “Finals should be modified. I understand that we need a test to finalize all of the scores; however, a test from knowledge one has gained over a span of months is not necessary. This test is also worth a huge chunk of ones grade and can really make or break his or her’s overall scores. This is especially ridiculous when the teacher will not give a study guide. How in the world am I supposed to be prepared for every little thing that has ever been said. I am not superhuman, and I cannot remember all of my English, Math, Science, and everything else without a little help.” 

On top of it all, Hannah Plauschin, and other student athletes, believe that competitions, such as meets and games, should not occur during finals week. This adds on additional, unnecessary stress and could possibly result in low scores on the test. Not all students are good test takers and an A student’s grade could be dropped to a lower grade because of the finals: ultimately leaving the student devastated with a grade that is too late to change. Finals now, like stated before, are twenty percent of one’s grade but not long before it was only one seventh of a student’s grade. 

In addition to this, teachers are also not a huge fan of the finals. I mean, why would they? Having to grade an excessive amount of tests to see whether or not if they paid enough attention to the lessons and lectures seems like a complete waste of time in my opinion. Mr. Miller, a well-known and beloved science teacher, is not particularly in favor of finals. Mr. Miller believes that finals are unnecessary because he thinks “the original purpose of finals was to prepare students for final exams in college, but since the majority of our student population will not likely go to college, I don’t see a benefit for the majority of the student population.” 

 “Final exams also consume four instructional days which could be used to cover additional material. Realistically, teachers would probably administer some type of assessment at the end of the nine-weeks to wrap things up before a holiday, but that assessment would likely only involve 1 day,” said Mr. Miller. He also agreed to the statement of how finals affecting twenty percent of one’s grade can ultimately damage it. “Final exams put students who do not test well at a serious disadvantage. Since most teachers use this type of assessment for their finals, this one assessment can have a huge detrimental impact on the semester grades of these students.”

To sum it all up, finals is not necessary and puts a huge impact on student’s health and grades. Being stressed does not help one to be joyful or simply themselves. Everyone is uptight and tense due to all of the final testing going on, and lack of sleep is an even greater problem. The people who stated we need finals are old and haven’t been in school for a long time, so they would not understand the duress we have been put in. In addition to that, schooling systems and education has changed since the last time older people have gone to school so it won’t be the same; and in my opinion, as hard as it was back then, I believe it is more difficult now because of the unworldly amount of tests being given to us.