Finals week at Park is a challenging week for students as most classes test the students on either their most recent unit or all units of the semester. These can be written tests or projects, and they amount to a heavy workload during the end of the semester. Many students feel a sense of increased stress and worry over their grades at this time.
Biology teacher Jessica Gust said to not wait until the last minute to study for final exams. She said that the most important thing is to be reviewing throughout the semester so you are more prepared for the final.
“We know from science that studying and doing it in smaller chunks over a longer period of Time yields way better results anyway,” Gust said.
Junior Sylvia Tolzin said she had to adjust her normal schedule to create time to study for finals and that she had to push other commitments back in order to have time to study.
“Finals increase studying more than I normally do. Currently I take PSEO (Postsecondary Enrollment Options), so I’m pushing that off until later this week. So it’s adding more stress than what I normally have,” Tolzin said. \
Junior John Miller also said that he had to adjust his schedule, sacrificing sports and taking off work in order to create time to study.
“I would say finals make daily life a lot more difficult. I have to skip out on sports and work to be able to study for my finals,” Miller said.
Tolzin also said that she decides to sleep less to create more time to study. She said that this and managing her time differently help her find more time to study for finals.
“Many students like myself also cut back on sleep. This not only contributes to some of my stress, but when I’m busy the first thing that (I) lose is sleep,” Tolzin said.
Miller said that he tries to put an even time into each subject to best study for his tests.
“I’m trying to study an even amount between [each], I’d say I put around like three hours into each test,” Miller said.
Gust also said that managing your time is crucial during finals week. She said that blocking out time and creating time around commitments is the best way to manage your days during preparation for finals.
“Block out your time. Ideally, you would do that for probably a couple of weeks in advance of the finals. Students are so busy, students have sports practice, piano, religion, they’ve got all these different things,” Guet said. “You’ve got to block it out. So you know where you have pockets of time to practice and realize that if you have like 15 minutes in your schedule somewhere, you can make that productive.”
