Seniors and faculty give advice on final exams, adequate preparation techniques, and putting mental health first.
Barstow students are anxiously preparing and studying in the final weeks before their tests. Although finals are a yearly occurrence for most high school students, COVID-19 interrupted the routine of semester finals, leaving many students feeling unprepared for their finals this year.
It has been two years since any Barstow students have taken full finals, giving the freshman and sophomores no experience taking high school finals on top of the reduced workload from last year’s so-called ‘COVID year.’
Most teachers kept to either a project or a short unit test. Matt Thurman, math teacher and Senior Dean, gave a project for the first semester and a much shortened test for the second semester of the 2020-2021 school year.
Teachers have now ramped the difficulty of the tests at least close to the caliber of finals previous to COVID-19. Students are stressed about making new study habits and re-learning all of the information from the last two quarters. The seniors, however, have been in their shoes before and have some advice for getting through finals season.
“A lot of people at school haven’t had finals in a long time, or ever because of COVID, so it’s hard to know what to expect.” said senior Niki Adma (‘22). “But I know from my past experience that I did over-stress, and I’m gonna try not to.”
Oftentimes students will neglect their mental and physical health as they prepare for finals, depriving themselves of sleep and breaks from studying. Spending late nights studying and missing sleep, however, can often be more of a hindrance than help to a student and increase stress levels. A common piece of advice received from students with finals experience is to not over-stress, as it will not improve your grade.
When asked what he likes to do during breaks between finals, senior Max Parr (‘22) said, “I just like to sit back, relax, and close my eyes.”
Some students, like Parr (‘22), take a more relaxed approach to studying and preparing for finals, while others prefer planning their studies far ahead. In contrast, senior Ayushi Kothari (‘22) believes that planning far ahead and knowing what to expect for her finals is a valuable asset.
“That year [sophomore year], I was able to learn from freshman year and was like, okay, this is how finals goes,” said Kothari. “And then I knew the process, so I was able to plan ahead.”
As for studying strategies, they vary greatly from student to student. Often, rewriting and reorganising notes were said to be helpful study techniques that improve retention. Learning a subject well enough to be able to teach it to others encourages mastery of topics and can make studying in groups more engaging.
“I took the week before finals to reorganize my binders and my notes,” said Adma (‘22). “Rereading everything helped me revise and rewriting things also definitely helped.”
Most teachers encourage students to take plenty of breaks and not over-stress over their finals. They also encourage students to prepare studying schedules, and take time to ask questions about material that was not understood.
“Talking to teachers was super helpful, and I think because Barstow is such a small community, it’s easy to talk to your teachers,” said Kothari (‘22).
It can be easy to get carried away and strain yourself while studying, so taking breaks and finding ways to destress are very important. Some relaxing habits students practice include reading, talking to friends, and going for walks.
“Usually [during study breaks] I Facetime my friends,” said Adma (‘22). “Sometimes if I’m at home, I’ll go downstairs to get a snack or talk to Sai [her brother] or something, and now that I can drive, I like going on drives.”
The immense stress that finals can create for students will often have negative effects on their health. As Adma (‘22) described, she suffered from lack of sleep and eating due to the stress of her finals sophomore year, and finding ways to take breaks was a learning curve.
“My mother took my laptop away from me and forced me to sleep,” said Adma (‘22).
Many teachers agree that keeping up on sleep and taking care of your body will improve the results of finals. Amanda Marvin, Senior Dean and World Language Chair, says her greatest piece of advice is simply to “sleep, sleep, sleep.”
Finding the study techniques that work best for each student is also very important. Learning methods vary, from student to student, and often when in study groups, or trying to adhere to a specific method, students will spend time “pseudo-studying,” as Lindsay Zimmerman, English teacher and Freshman Dean, put it.
“Sometimes the peer pressure of hanging out in a group or studying in a group is kind of a negative thing in this situation,” said Mr. Thurman. “There’s benefits to studying together, but like Mrs. Zimmerman was saying, that ‘pseudo-studying’ where you’re actually just chatting is not actually studying, so don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself.”
Another mistake made by students is hyper-focusing on one topic or subject that is difficult for a student, rather than taking a larger overview of the material. A wide variety of subjects are covered within a semester, especially in classes like history or math. Focusing on one or two topics, even if one has an understanding of these topics, could be detrimental to the overall understanding of the subject.
Despite finals being cumulative over the entire semester, they can only make up 20% of a student’s final grade, making it impossible to totally make or break their letter grade. In fact, 20% is a maximum, and many teachers have even opted for the final to count as 15 or even 10% of students’ semester grades.
While it is obviously important to study and prepare for finals, overstressing can actually have a negative impact on overall retention. Our advice to students is to prioritize sleep and food over unnecessary cramming. As long as you have some sort of idea of each subject, trusting in the work you have put in during the semester should be sufficient with resolute studying.
With finals week upon us, remember that prioritizing health is always the way to succeed. From all of us at B-line, we wish you good luck on all of your tests and hope you enjoy your holiday break!
