Everyone gets excited for the end of the semester, but there’s always some mixed feelings. From taking tests to homework deadlines, everyone’s scrambling to get everything done.

Students and teachers alike are overloaded with work at the end of the semester because of the procrastination and lack of motivation that has been building up over the past couple months. It’s the same story every single term/semester.

“The stresses of COVID have overwhelmed my soul!” – A Teacher at Davis High

There’s so much stress and anxiety that comes with end of the term finals, midterms, and even projects. Often, these projects encompass everything students have learned throughout the term or semester, depending on the class. These cause students to become over-stressed and  they feel like there’s so much pressure on them from everyone to get good grades when, sometimes, it’s just not possible. They’re still working hard and they’re still doing their work, but they don’t get the scores they want on their assignments and tests.

“As long as they have everything turned in and done, the grade doesn’t matter to me.” – Anonymous Parent

Some students don’t feel the pressure to get good grades from parental figures, but from themselves. Many students strive for perfection. Everyone wants to get that 4.0 perfect report card, but often fall short. While there are strategies and ways to overcome procrastination, some students thrive off of these methods and are relieved when the semester terminates because it’s a new schedule. So many kids here at Davis High burn out and don’t have the energy emotionally or physically to do anything and that’s something that needs to be fixed.

This is what we call monotony, which is something that can be changed. While the A day/B day schedule helps reduce the repetition, having the same classes every day of every week like we have been doing for the past couple of months diminishes the progress we have accomplished with 5 days a week, switching off the days of classes.

Davis High School was able to go through a hybrid phase of school days and it seemed to be working. There was no 2-week quarantine, practically no cases, and most students were thriving with the new schedule. Students were given an emotional break day from school and were able to regroup themselves and reset without having to go to school day after day after day after day. Yes, four days a week is better than 5, but it still isn’t enough for some students. They need that day to refresh their minds and have a day completely dedicated to the homework and lessons they learned the day before.

Finding out what works for each individual school is tough, but it’s important that each school finds a schedule that prevents monotony and relieves some of the pressure that students feel. Once the school finds a schedule that works during these unprecedented times, stick with it! Why change what is working so well?