The end of the first semester is coming upon us. It is safe to say that this year has been anything but normal. Since the first day of school we have had to wear masks everyday, apply hand sanitizer every so often, maintain a far enough distance from everyone, as well as the periodic quarantining of our classmates and teachers. Before school, I was so used to seeing everyone gather at their lockers until the minute bell rang that now even if I am early, it feels like I am running late everyday because no one is in the hallways anymore. This is just one example of how much life has changed in so little time. The workload we have received from teachers, however, has not really wavered. Sure, some teachers have offered leniency, but the students do not normally have the time or mental capacity to finish everything in the short deadline given. Many people, not just students, have suffered a great deal of mental health problems during these quarantines. Coming back to school to be overwhelmed with work like nothing ever happened does not really ease the stress one bit. In my opinion, we should not have finals, but that could just be the student in me talking. 

A few pros for having finals this year could be the slightest feeling of normalcy or the chance to bring up some grades slightly by attempting to ace the finals. Cons would be the overload of stress to catch up with work and studying since we did not have a lot of time in class. The ten percent not being enough to save a failing grade, although we are very grateful for it, and many people can be terrible nervous test takers. People could also get anxiety and lose sleep over a ten percent final. This would not be healthy for the students in the long run. 

Furthermore, we must ask ourselves the question that really matters. Is this all worth it? Is putting kids under unnecessary duress really beneficial for their sakes and the teachers? The year has already been a rollercoaster for almost everyone, and adding a simple little thing such as finals would only pile on one more thing on the plate for everyone. One can figure out if a student is doing well or not by the letter grades in that class for the student. Why take a final test in each class to see if we learned something when our grades are clear to understand? 

All in all, taking the final might not seem like such a big thing, but it can accumulate to something bigger. The built up stress and lack of sleep due to studying all night could easily be written off as the student spends too much time on his or her phone, but in all reality most people just have a tougher time comprehending material than others. Everyone’s pace is different than others and the limits that are held seem a bit unfair towards those students especially. Do you think that having finals this year would be a good idea?