Every year, students come back from a well-earned winter break to chaos: finals week. The long disconnect between the time students learn content and when they test over it causes a multitude of problems.
Iowa law mandates that public schools do not begin school before Aug. 23. Because of this, Pleasant Valley and other public schools in the state must hold their finals after winter break to maintain a balanced first and second semester.
Though PV is unable to revise this schedule, students still face downfalls that need to be addressed.
“Teachers tell us not to worry about their classes over break, that it’s a time to relax. But, with finals right after break, it’s hard to take that break,” junior Reese O’Donnell remarked. If students follow their teachers’ orders, they worry their retention loss will be so great that they will fail their finals. Students and teachers alike want to enjoy their break without worrying about school, nonetheless finals, leaving students with a decision to make.
Students who decide to take their break as a break tend to feel very overwhelmed coming back to school. Many students anticipate finals week stress, which causes premature anxiety over the break.
Students who choose to study over the break typically flourish on their finals, but at a cost. “School work really disrupts time with family and friends, especially over the holidays when people have lots of plans,” said O’Donnell
Both choices show a common theme: disruption of major winter holidays.
A weekend alone can pose difficulty remembering information learned the week before. The extended break multiplies these memory issues, and worsens the consequence if finals don’t go as planned.
While the time interval causes an issue of its own, stress has been found to remarkably impair memory, also. Stress causes alterations in memory and cognitive ability. Finals are already intimidating as is, and complexes caused by anxiety and stress make test taking all more difficult.
Trimester schedules are a common solution to this issue.
In a trimester schedule, there are only 10 weeks per term, each ending in a week of finals. Not only is there less information to recall on each final due to shorter terms, students also will never face finals right before, or after, a major holiday. While the first term of a semester system ends in early January, the first term of a trimester schedule ends in November and another will not start up again until January.
This allows students to sincerely enjoy their break and the holidays with their families.
Many colleges in the United States start much earlier than Aug. 23 and can therefore hold their finals before the long winter break. Such a schedule allows for college students to rest over their break. “It’s been so nice to take finals before winter break here in college. I feel like when I go on break, I actually don’t have any obligation to think about school,” said PV alum Lizzie McVey.
But because the timing itself cannot be changed, students and teachers must adapt to the unfortunate circumstances and make the most out of a tough situation.
Bella Krieg • Dec 10, 2023 at 9:35 pm
I definitely think it is unfair to student’s that finals are right after winter break. During break, no one is thinking or studying for school, but expect to be able to remember the whole semester a week after break is over. I think finals should be taken at a different time and I think that would really help student’s do better on their final exams.
Nikhita Nallu • Dec 10, 2023 at 4:41 pm
Great article! I think having a trimester schedule would be an interesting change.