Finals week is equivalent to extensive, unnecessary stress — especially for seniors.
The weight of impending exams, assignments and projects can lead to heightened anxiety for students. The constant juggling of studying, revising and managing time can leave them feeling overwhelmed and mentally exhausted. The fear of failure and the desire to excel further intensifies this pressure, potentially leading to increased stress levels and emotional distress, according to Honor Society, an organization that helps college students succeed academically.
Since seniors already experience lots of stress from growing up and finishing their last chapter of high school, all avoidable stress should be dodged. Tests are already given throughout the year for progress checks so, testing them on that material in one exam shows little to no point.
Stress is prevalent while both taking exams and preparing for them. This may affect student’s learning process and memory formation in different ways, which can mean that these final assessments produce contradictory effects for some students, according to the International Bureau of Education.
Since many seniors take Advanced Placement (AP) tests at the end of the year for college credit, also requiring a final exam for the class can lead to student burnout. Because AP exams contain learning material from the whole year, it not only makes the studying process long, but it also confusing since final exams are split into semester material. Requiring seniors to prepare for both exams requires an overwhelming amount of information recollection and memory, which can lead to substantial mental decline.
During their last year, graduating seniors need to be preparing for their next chapter of life, rather than worrying about performing well on a test that does not affect their final GPA. The last moments of high school should be spent with friends making the best memories possible. Making seniors take final exams during their last week of high school robs them of their time left with their friends and replaces it with a week of unneeded pain and stress.
