Break is a time to relax and do things you love. A time to reconnect with your family and friends. It’s not a time to study and stress about the upcoming month. Park would disagree because finals are after break this year; the semester ends on Jan. 25.

Having finals after break creates unnecessary stress, as if a dark cloud is looming over you. I found it becoming more and more stressful as the break approached its end. Just when you’re doing something fun, it sneaks up on you. You wonder if there will be another test right after break, or maybe you’re in the middle of a unit and need to refresh your knowledge, so you can continue with the unit after break. 

Most schools surrounding Park have finals before break, and these same schools have more days off of school. This makes Park students envious of their schedule. While they can let loose over break, Park students still have obligations from school. We are waiting for grades to come in, and prepare for the semester’s end.

If Park had put finals before break, students wouldn’t have to stress about grades or assignments. With finals over and a disabled Powerschool, there would be nothing you could do about the grade you receive and when you return back, there’s a fresh start waiting. 

Most students including myself could have used a break to sit back and relax. Hanging out with friends and enjoying time with family would have been a lot more enjoyable without thinking about the upcoming finals. Thinking about how they will go turns a good mood into a sour mood. Waking up each morning with a plan of how long it would take to complete my work, and when I would have time for it made break super stressful. 

Like many students, I would plan to do my work at one point and I procrastinated it to the end of break. The stress of break alongside the procrastination made the end of break more stressful than it would have been just having to go back to school. A fresh semester would have replaced this.

Teachers who were upset about the short break at least might have appreciated not having to grade over break. However this makes units longer because there would be a period of time where the class has to review. Forgetting things over break and finals don’t pair well with a new unit. 

Finals are also in a weird spot after break because it makes sense to finish a unit right before a break. It almost feels like finals take place before break with the amount of work and units finishing up before break. 

Starting the new semester after break would make break more relaxed. It would also make coming back to school more enjoyable and productive for everyone.

Park does finals after winter break, and this has been widely disputed within the student body at Park, and many students wish that finals were before break. However, there are also many people who are comfortable with the current finals situation at Park. In my opinion, it is better to have finals after winter break rather than before.    

The first reason for this is that winter break gives students a chance to relax and study independently. Winter break is awaited by every student because it relieves the burnout of the first four months of school. The stress of this beginning stretch of school ramps up after adjusting back from summer break, and students await winter break. This stress alone is enough, so the added stress of having finals would be very difficult for students to handle. Winter break gives students the opportunity to relax and potentially study before finals preparation begins. This can prevent full burnout. 

Another reason that finals are better off after winter break is because it gives teachers more time to review material and give students enough information to prepare for finals. This is a very big deal for  students because it gives students time to prepare, and it does not overwhelm students as lessons coming in are not rushed and they can get a full grasp on the material. It is also a very big deal for teachers as they are relieved of some pressure and are able to have more relaxed lessons and more time to distribute the material. 

The final reason is that students at Park also often travel before winter break starts for the holidays, and if finals were before winter break, many students would miss finals and have to take the tests earlier. This can add a lot of stress in a shorter amount of time for a student and it also gives an unfair disadvantage to these students who are going on vacation. Taking their test earlier would give them less time to study, prepare and learn than other students would have. 

Having finals after break is an extremely beneficial thing for students at Park, and if this were to change, it would add a lot of stress to students and teachers. Students need winter break to be able to relax and also prepare for finals, while teachers need to have this extra time after break to better prepare students for finals. Finals need to stay after winter break.