by Emily Richardson

Sometimes it seems as if the world is coming to an end–as if the universe would stop if the human body were to take on any more stress. End of term has a vast reputation for being next to miserable for students. Grades, tests and term projects all seem to come at once.

At the end of my senior year I am realizing that I have minimal time left of this enduring high school pain. End of third term has hit me with five tests, hours of homework and a popsicle stick bridge to build that must hold up to 300 pounds, which I have yet to get started on.

When end of term hits, stress seems to be the talk of the school. Teachers fail to recognize that students are not only enrolled in one class, but rather eight classes. I often feel that teachers think that students lives revolve around their own class, when in reality it is one-eighth of our worry.

It makes sense that we need to test on the material we have learned from the term, but that does not imply that all these tests have to be the last two days of the term. It’s as if teachers thrive on student’s stress. It is mentally impossible to prepare for an end of term test in every class, all within the same week.

I feel that if teachers were to be more sensitive to students’ busy schedules, we would appreciate and enjoy school more, and maybe even learn more. For me personally I don’t learn from cramming for tests–I learn from having time to take in material. If tests were not just that last week of the term, I think students could actually learn more and remember what they learn.

End of term is like an illness. There is nothing you can really do to avoid it, you can’t make it come or leave any faster, and once it’s over, you finally feel better. It is an illness that I wish teachers realized they are the source of.