As the end of December approaches and the holiday season grows near, both the number of assessments and the amount of student stress grows. The week before winter break is a paradox of excitement for days off of school and stress about the days beforehand. As with the end of a usual six-week period, teachers finish entering test grades then move directly onto a whole new feat: exams.

It is common knowledge that most students dread exams. With a surplus of ten-page reviews and an emphasis on how much it can affect their grades, some students nearly pull their hair out from apprehension. Teenagers spend countless hours cramming all the information possible in their heads and worrying that all their work won’t be enough to get them whatever their end goal is.

“[Exam grades] could either help or really hurt you,” sophomore Erin Harper said. “And you don’t want to put all your hard work that you’ve already done to waste.”

Harper also said exams brought out a lot of stress, likely due to the large percentage they count for a student’s grade at the end of the semester. Fellow sophomore Claire Kornman agreed.

“I prioritize exams because if I don’t, I will fail,” Kornman said. “[I like to] color code. I go over old tests, quizzes and homework to see what I missed throughout the units.”

Most students complete exam reviews on top of reviewing old work, making way for a heavy workload.

“I do all the reviews… and for math I redo the problems that I got wrong,” Harper said.

She followed up by saying that she listened to music while she worked, which tended to help her focus.

Each year exams bring out new levels of stress for students that seem like it will never end. But each year, students persevere.