Students quietly study as books, calculators, and stress are evident. Finals were right around the corner, and the majority of the freshman class had not experienced them yet. At Parker, finals took place January 17 through January 19. Many freshmen have math tests, science projects, and English presentations. A few students experienced math finals last year, but it was not nearly the same as high school finals. 

Some freshmen who have been preparing for finals explain how, while they feel stressed out, their teachers are there to help them. “I like how we have a whole week to study for finals, but it’s a little stressful,” freshman Penny Wood said. “I think the teachers give us a lot of information ahead of time which is good.” 

“I think that finals are a pretty necessary part of high school, even though most people don’t like them,” freshman Spencer Koh said. “I think that they can cause a lot of stress, more than they probably should, but that most teachers are able to make their finals less stressful.”

Most freshmen believe that finals are necessary and a good way to get their grades up. However, freshman Felix Farkas disagreed. “I think that they’re very stressful and kind of unnecessary,” Farkas said. 

The freshmen grade was already stressed out, even with no prior experience from the pressure of finals. “My thoughts on finals are that they are extremely stressful because it is all subjects in one week,” freshman Graysen Pendry.

While Parker has finals after break, other schools have finals before break. Freshman Nia Nashashibi enjoys Parker’s finals timing. “I really enjoy having finals after break because it’s like a little reset to prepare myself for finals,” Nashashibi said.

Other students do not like finals after break, as they worry that they will forget the curriculum and be concerned about it during break. 

Many freshmen feel stressed and nervous about finals. However, this is not the case for all. “I am not worried about finals and I feel pretty prepared,” Spencer Koh said. 

Graysen Pendry observed that finals can be one-sided, as many people are strong in tests and not in presentations, or vice versa.  “I think that finals are in some cases slightly biased depending on the person because for some people, they might be really bad at taking tests however they do understand the concepts,” she said. “So I think that in some cases they can be unfair to some people based on what their academic life is like.”