When I think about finals, I expect the three days to each have three classes. However, when I opened an email sent by administration on March 12, I noticed that they decided to switch up the schedule. This year there will be four exams on the first day (periods 4, 5, 6 and 7), three exams on the second day (periods 1, 2 and 3) and two exams on the last day (periods 8 and 9). I don’t understand why they decided to make this change, and I honestly don’t think it’s a good decision.

The first day of finals will contain four periods, which might include a student’s stressful or difficult classes. While they do have the option to change when they take a final through a Google Form if they feel overwhelmed, they will have to stay longer after the school day to take the test or to do it during a study hall period. Some students do not have a study hall period, so it might just force them to keep the more stressful exam layout, especially if they are the type of student to be very busy after school or just not want to have to worry about another exam on a different day.

I thankfully don’t have a lot of my harder classes during the day with four exams, but I know many people who do have a lot of harder classes during the first exam day. I feel that the change to the schedule was very unnecessary. I personally liked the three exams per day, and I never heard anyone else complain about the schedule. The three periods per exam day made everything seem very balanced and made finals less stressful. It made the work load feel even, and made it easier to plan out what to prioritize. It also allowed me to put a good amount of time into reviewing all my material. With four exams on the first day, more things will have to be prioritized, giving less time to really make sure I truly understand all the topics I need to know.

I hope next year they change the schedule back to three exams per day because I truly don’t think there are any real benefits to the schedule this year. This finals schedule will just bring more stress and burnout to students, especially the students who have their hardest classes on the first day of exams.