The last several weeks before the end of the semester are bittersweet for high school students. The excitement of winter break is rivaled by the anticipation of taking finals in most, if not all, of their classes. Normally, students have between one to three difficult finals that they spend an hour or more studying for, while the rest are easier tests or projects that require less effort.

“My two hardest finals this week are AP Chemistry and AP Calculus,” junior Jessica Roberts said. “Chemistry is going to be difficult because it requires problem solving, and that can be a challenge because calculators are not allowed on the multiple choice [questions]. Calculus is going to be difficult because there is a lot of stuff to remember for the final.”

Roberts explained her studying process for the big test week.

“I study… for my important finals, which usually involves reading over notes and finding practice problems to make sure I completely understand the concepts,” Roberts said. “And having a mental breakdown in between subjects.”

Similar to Roberts, junior Caleb Parr has several finals that are more daunting than the rest.

“The hardest finals that I will have to take are going to be in math and Physics, because they are my worst subjects. [To review], I go over my notes and get help from my teachers if I need to,” Parr said.

Despite having to deal with difficult tests, Parr is not as anxious for finals as he has been before.

“I am not as stressed [for finals] as I have been in years past,” Parr said. “I’m fairly confident. [Our] teachers assign reviews in order to help prepare for finals, [but I] sometimes wish teachers would give us more in-class time to study.”

Roberts also thinks that more time and activities in class could help her studying process.

“It is helpful when teachers provide a general outline of what to review for the final and when we review the material as a class,” Roberts said. “For classes that involve a lot of memorization, review games can be helpful, and I wish more teachers would do that.”

The difficulty of a final depends on the class and, as a result, more studying may be a requirement in order to do well on these tests. Regardless, each student can look forward to a long, relaxing break once they have marched through finals week.