Winter break is a time for relaxing with family, vacations, and taking time to not worry about school.
For students who attend New Trier or any other school in the Central Suburban League Conference, winter break isn’t always ideal; finals as soon as return from break.
This means that students either organize their school materials and start studying, or they do nothing and cram in the studying the week before finals.
For those schools that have finals before the two-week long break, students get to return to school with a clean slate and start a new semester.
“I would prefer to have finals before winter break because then I could have my break free and not stress over finals. I also don’t like how we don’t start off with new material when we get back,” said junior Corey Winestock.
Just talking to students around New Trier, there is a clear consensus: very few people like having finals so late in the year. Students think that because they have a two-week break, they shouldn’t have to study. “I get ready for finals over break by organizing my notes and maybe reading over notes. This year, I didn’t do as much hardcore studying until we got back to school” said senior Anna O’Herlihy.
And for those students traveling or sharing lots of family time over the break–they may find it hard to remember everything that they need to know for their finals when they return.
“I organize my notes over break but that’s about it. I don’t really start going over everything until after break because I feel like when its closer to the final the information is fresher in my memory” said Winestock.
While the wish for finals to occur before break is popular, it’s not unanimous.
Nicole Brahin, a junior, wants to keep finals where they are. “I like having break to catch up on work from the semester and I can also work on big final projects. I don’t think I would be that upset if we had finals before break, but I like having them after break,” she said.
Schools such as Deerfield, Highland Park, and Evanston all have finals after break. Other schools in different districts have finals before winter break such as Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley, Metea Valley and Naperville North. All of these schools are in the western suburbs, and go by a different calendar than New Trier.
Brianne Safer, a junior at Waubonsie Valley in Aurora likes having finals before winter break. “It’s a fantastic feeling of relief having finals before break. It definitely makes the break so much better because I don’t have to worry about studying.”
Arin Kerstein, a junior from Glenbook North, which also schedules exams after the break, feels the same as students from New Trier. “I don’t really do that much planning over break but I am still aware of how close we are to finals. My teachers also assign a lot of other work over break, so doing that on top of finals is a lot to get done.”
This year, with finals being later than normal due to the unusually late start of winter break, there were a few extra days at school to either review or learn a new lesson and then start reviewing.
The weekend before finals is usually three days, giving students an extra day to study, but this year, we had school until Tuesday and finals started on Wednesday, with the day off coming after finals.
This gave teachers some flexibility when it came to how they were going to spend the week and a half before finals. Some teachers chose to review all seven days, while others carried on where they left off and had only a short review in class leaving most of the work to the students.
“It was pretty mixed for me. Some teachers reviewed every day, while others reviewed very little,” said Winestock.
Jake Leonard, a junior, would prefer to study by himself or in a group. “In my experience, teachers just hand out packets and walk around answering questions all period. I’m always much more in the mood to study when I’m at the library versus when I’m at school.”
“We don’t really review much in the majority of my classes. They sometimes give us semester reviews to look over on our own and they answer questions based on personal review,” said Kerstein.
For seniors, the process is a little different. “If you are someone like me who applied to many schools regular decision, it’s annoying having finals after winter break because many college deadlines are during the first few weeks of January. Also, during break, seniors are finishing their applications, too” said O’Herlihy.
The main complaint about finals is that break becomes unenjoyable. “I could either relax during break or study. If I relax, I run the risk of being unprepared for finals and will feel guilty for not studying. Or, I will study and not spend break how I want,” said Leonard.
There may not be a solution to this problem that doesn’t leave students confused. Some are willing to start school earlier in order to have finals before break. Others suggest not having so many days off first semester.
The issue of finals may not be resolved for a while, but being aware that this is an issue on the minds of students is a great place for administrators to start.