With finals approaching for high school students across the country, it leaves Del Val students questioning if the stress caused by final exams is worth the 11% of their grade.
Del Val created a new finals policy this year, where only seniors can be exempt from their finals as long as they have a 90% or above in all four marking periods.
The concept of finals becoming mandatory for nearly all students was created to prepare them for future high stakes tests such as college finals, where the result of your test could have a much larger impact on a students grade.
“After high school, you will have to deal with other stressful events and learning how to cope with those things is important,” said McKinney.
But, how does this affect a students stress level and mental health?
Del Val’s Mental Health Counselor Amanda Matlee notices mental health issues definitely ingress around the time of finals.
“Some of the next things you can do are plan ahead, study, go to bed at a decent time and making sure you stick to a schedule,” Matlee said.
This schedule includes waking up and going to bed at a decent time, studying periodically throughout the week.
“We have free Headspace on the iPads in the calm corner in the Commons…so students can use that for mediation,” Matlee said.
Finals have brought out stress among myself and friends.
Del Val freshman Paityn Gergits voiced her opinion on the mandatory finals.
“I feel very stressed by finals because we have too many in one day,” Gergits said. “It [finals] puts way t0o much pressure on students knowing that they have to do three tests that are worth 11% of their grade in one day.”
However, there are other ways for students to take challenging tests without final exams. If high school students want to get experience taking a test close to a college level, Advanced Placement tests could be a great alternative.
“I think APs are a little more stressful on students just because of the community’s perception of the classes and the tests,” Supervisor of School Counseling Kristina Sterbenc said. “Keep in mind that AP is as close to college level as you can get.”
One day there might be a way to be exempt from finals, not as a senior.
“One of the things that bothered me about everybody having this opportunity was if you were just an average student, how horrible it is that you struggle all year in school and you can never be exempt from an exam and there is no way to do that,” McKinney said. “I think maybe there is some other way to do that, another possible way, maybe if they do well on the state testing you can become exempt from an exam.”
