You’ve probably felt it before. The heart-racing, palm-sweating, sleep-lacking, head-cramming, mental state of panic that comes with final exam season and here at DGS, it would be a rare occurrence to find a student who claims they aren’t feeling the effects of exam season.

As junior Benjamin Paladino studies for his final exams he finds his stress levels are on the rise and believes this is having a negative effect on his mental health. Lack of sleep, tears, and anxiety are only part of the equation of studying for final exams according to Paladino.

“I’m trying really hard to study for all these tests and I just feel like I’m drowning,” Paladino said

Paladino is hardly alone when it comes to his feelings surrounding finals, he is part of the 31% of high school students who report final exams as their number one source of stress and the 89% of high schoolers who claim finals negatively affect their mental health. (MentalHelp).

The main purpose of final exams is for students to demonstrate all the knowledge they have learned over the course of the semester. Though many teachers do prepare study guides and give students time in class to prepare, exams have been proven again and again to hurt students and their mental health. With students reporting a significant increase in anxiety and disordered thinking (MentalHelp), it’s hard to understand why schools are still implementing final exams. One argument for keeping final exams is that they help ensure that students retain what they are being taught.

“The purpose of final exams is to make sure that students are actually holding onto what they are supposed to be learning,” DGS South counselor Vel Vetri said.

Vetri isn’t incorrect, final exams were introduced in the late 1950s when college professors began to realize their students were forgetting subject matter after tests, thus exams after each semester were executed, and the final exams we know today were born.

However many students have begun to argue that the cons of final exams outweigh the pros. Junior Sophie Martincic doesn’t believe that final exams are accurately determining what students know, as the stress of the tests can create anxiety leading to poor scores.

“I’ve had good grades all semester and have been pretty stress-free, but we have finals and my stress levels are up by 100%, when I’m nervous going into to test I usually do a lot worse on it, and a lot of [other students] are the same way,” Martincic said.

Anxiety has been proven to affect student tests time and time again, studies have shown that students with low levels of test anxiety achieve higher scores on examinations than those with high anxiety levels. Researchers have documented that the stress levels of students can affect the grades of their final exams up to 15% (MCQ).

“I just believe it’s an accurate measurement of what we’ve learned this semester, if you have a good grade in a class then you’re already showing that you know the material. So what’s the point of finals?” Paladino said.
One benefit of final exams is that if a student has a borderline grade they still have a chance to raise it before the semester ends, but is the pressure to study worth that grade boost? Vetri

“The cumulative nature of finals can create a “make or break” scenario for some students, where their grade during finals may improve or hurt their overall grade, I believe finals can be a stressful time for students, especially when considering the volume of content students must study and prepare for,” Vetri said.

Vetri also gave students tips to study for finals, he believes prioritizing mental health is crucial to earning a good score on these exams, nutrition, and good sleep are big factors in the finals equations.

“Although finals week can be stressful, know that stress is temporary. Use your time wisely and communicate with your teacher as you prepare for finals. Make use of your resources, such as other students in class, in order to help you review content. Don’t forget to sleep and eat well too!” Vetri said