Seniors express mixed feelings about finals occurring before winter break instead of after, which had been the schedule prior to this school year. 

Alexis Meeks ‘23, who prefers this year’s finals scheduling, expressed a dislike for the finals schedule used in previous years. 

“I didn’t really like [having finals after break],” Meeks said. “I felt like I got a break and I forgot everything, and then I had to come back and remember everything, which was annoying.”
Jake Weinstein ‘23 feels differently about the finals schedule.
“I think [the decision to have finals before break] was a terrible decision, especially for seniors,” Weinstein said. “This is the semester when [seniors are] doing college applications. Right around finals is when everyone’s trying to get their applications in.” 

Weinstein attributes his stress to college applications and finals occurring simultaneously. 

“[Finals before break has] made this semester stressful, as I’m waiting to hear from my early action school,” said Weinstein. “If I don’t get in, I’ll have nine other applications to complete during finals week or submit right after, because [I] don’t want to have to worry about them over break.” 

Kalaya Sriver ‘23 sides with Meeks, saying that she prefers the shortened semester. 

“I’m taking classes I’m really interested in and I’m trying very hard in all my classes, so I feel prepared,” said Sriver. “I feel motivated to do well, because I’m holding out until the break.”

Sriver credits the upcoming two weeks of winter break as a motivator for her academic focus leading up to finals. 

“I feel like I performed worse on finals when they were afterwards. I’d have this two week period where I didn’t study, and then we’d get back and I’d be stressed about [finals] in those weeks following break,” said Sriver. 

On the other hand, Weinstein sees the break as an opportunity to refresh.
“[Finals in January] means you take a nice break and come back, you study for your finals, and you take your finals followed by a short break before the second semester. I think it breaks it up really nicely,” said Weinstien. 

Without winter break as a buffer, some students acknowledge that finals stress is happening sooner. 

“I had to stress about finals earlier than I did in previous years. But I don’t think it’s impacted me that much, besides the fact that we haven’t gotten through as much material as we normally do before finals,” said Meeks. 

While seniors juggle both finals and college applications, students note that their teachers have ensured that classes flow just as smoothly as they did previously. 

“I think my teachers have done a good job of scheduling so that we end on a solid point at the end of the unit. Also we’ll pick up next year building on what we learned this semester,” said Meeks.