Freshmen Finals Reflection
On November 15, Casady Upper Division students took their fall final exams. After many grueling hours of studying, they were tested on the material covered over the past three months in each course. These two hour exams are always accompanied by stress, anxiety, and perhaps even a little excitement. However, these exams seem to be a little more interesting for the freshmen who have now completed their first of eight rounds of final exams. Although some students have had experience with finals in seventh and eighth grade, freshmen year at Casady can be an academic adjustment and finals can take a larger toll on students. I got the chance to ask three students from this year’s freshmen class about their thoughts on their first round of finals.
Final exams are worth twenty percent of each class’s final grade. Do you think this a good amount? Should it be increased or decreased? Why or why not?
Katie Spiropoulos (‘22): “I think that twenty is a good number to keep it at, as it is detrimental enough to a grade to inspire students to study and work hard, but it’s not enough to destroy someone’s GPA for the whole year.”
Shanta Ramdas (‘22): “I would say twenty percent is a pretty good amount. It does not affect your grade too much, but it also is enough for you to take it seriously.”
Zach Jarman (‘22): “I think that final exams should be kept at twenty percent because it gives people an opportunity to raise their grades, but will not hurt you too badly if you make a couple mistakes.”
Do you wish we could take finals before Christmas break and have semesters instead of trimesters?
Katie Spiropoulos (‘22): “No, I like them before Thanksgiving; it takes the burden off before the holiday season.”
Shanta Ramdas (‘22): “No, I enjoy not having all that stress of finals right before Christmas. It is much more enjoyable to have Christmas parties in every class on the day before break rather than finals.”
Zach Jarman (‘22): “I think that finals before Christmas break would lessen the stress of spring finals because they would be split evenly.”
What are some things you wish freshmen teachers did to prepare students better for exams?
Katie Spiropoulos (‘22): “I think the teachers did a great job preparing us, but maybe we could have received materials earlier.”
Shanta Ramdas (‘22): “I don’t think there was anything specific that the teachers could have done to help prepare us more. They provided us with study guides and a few days of review before the exams.”
Zach Jarman (‘22): “I think that most freshman teachers prepared their students well, but some teachers lacked instruction and information on what the final would cover. I think that a comprehensive study guide would help a lot.”
How challenging were finals overall this year?
Katie Spiropoulos ('22): "I believe that the teachers prepared us very well for finals, so they were reasonably challenging."
Shanta Ramdas ('22): "For me, finals were fairly easy. I prepared a lot and so there was not anything on the finals that were particularly challenging. The questions were also pretty broad."
Zach Jarman ('22): "Finals were easier than I thought they would be. They were not easy because the exams didn't cover enough material, but because I felt well prepared for them."
Although finals can be stressful, this year’s freshmen class has seemed to learn how to manage the pressure and complete them successfully. Hopefully they can continue this trend for the next round of exams coming their ways in the spring.