Finals, are they worth it?

By EMMA SHULFER

The Mirror reporter

The end of the semester is nearing here at Stevens Point Area High School (SPASH) and students are gearing up for finals, but are they really worth all the panic and stress? In my opinion, they are a waste of time and cause unnecessary terror among students.

Here at SPASH, finals are worth only up to 10 percent of your overall semester grade. In most cases, you will see very little impact.

Even though the impact is low students still study like crazy. Some departments exaggerate finals to the point where kids study for weeks on end and stay up to ridiculous hours to prepare for the upcoming exams. The math and science departments stress finals the most. Any student can expect a 100 point test or more testing them on anything and everything they have learned this semester.

Other departments are more relaxed. For example, teachers in the phy ed  or English departments may give a final project rather than a test. These projects may also allow you to work in a group or with a partner. In some classes, the final is long-term and students are given several weeks to complete it.

In my opinion, why should students have to remember everything they learned throughout the semester? The high schoolers have already taken several tests and quizzes on the topics.

SPASH administration started finals as a way to prepare students for college but recently more colleges have replaced standard exams with take home tests, papers, projects or group presentations. So should we really be preparing high schoolers for something that is a thing of the past?