Finals week is a very stressful time of year for many students. Nothing is worse than having stress on top of everything. Towards the end of the year,  there is no doubt that life starts to become very chaotic. Last minute tests and homework assignments all become crammed into the last few weeks of school. All of the cramming is somewhat manageable during some of the last weeks, but cramming tests and homework in the week before finals is almost unbearable.

Throughout the week before finals, students are expected to be completing homework, studying for quizzes and preparing for their finals. Things start to get tricky when eleven o’ clock at night rolls around and a student is just finishing his or her homework. At this point, students are drained from the long day at school and will most likely decide to go to bed and give up preparing for the final.

According to opencolleges.edu.au, “Some psychologists claim the typical student’s attention span is about 10 to 15 minutes long.” This means that students can only effectively study for 10 to 15 minutes without having to take a break. This is relevant to having to prepare for finals, homework and quizzes because it is nearly impossible for a student to focus long enough to get his or her work done.

“It would really help me out if I didn’t have homework or tests the week before finals. There were many nights when I didn’t even have a chance to look at my review packets, because by the time I was done studying for tests and completing my homework it was very late,” said Hailey Abrams (‘18). “It would be very beneficial if homework and tests slowed up right before finals.”

Homework and quizzes the week before finals should overall be cut out so students have enough time to prepare and study for their finals. The teachers should still be able to go through normal class periods the week before finals, but as for tests and homework, students should receive less. By receiving less work, it gives the student an opportunity to organize all of their work, complete review packets and prepare in whatever way is most successful for them.