The end of winter break means one thing; exams are looming ahead.  

Winter break is a time often spent enjoying the company of family and friends while celebrating the holidays.  This period is perfectly placed at the end of the calendar year, allowing students to unwind and relax from school. In other words, from the moment the final bell rings on the last day of school, hitting the books over the break is the farthest thing from most students minds.  

Every student looks forward to the end of December, not only for the holidays, but for the time away from school and luxuries of sleeping in, relaxing, watching TV and catching up on shows, not to mention the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Day. Having said that, with each day, hour and minute that passes, the end of break looms ever closer and the reality hits that exams are rapidly approaching.

Winter break lasted 12 days this school year. This is a significant time of absence from school and away from the structure of our daily learning in the classroom setting. Students are expected to take responsibility of their own studies and take the time to prepare for their upcoming exams regardless of the break from school. The truth is that many students simply do not open a single book to prepare, or minimally, only begin studies a day or so before returning to school.

“Winter break is something I look forward to every year,”  said junior Meredith Bunting. “It is nice to have extra time to enjoy with my friends and family. However, winter break comes with a price. I find it stressful that exams begin soon after break ends and often have to spend my free time doing school work even though I’m supposed to be on break. It is very hard to take an exam when your mind skips a week in the classroom with little time to refresh before exams begin.”

With the limited time before the start of exams, many teachers are still finishing up their own curriculum and lesson plans with new material. Students are expected to retain this new information while still remembering things learned at the beginning of the year.  

“Coming back from break, you have to tie up a lot of loose ends and finish things so you can have a few days to review,” World History teacher Josh Cutshaw said.

It also has not helped that the three day week in which students returned to school turned into three days of two hour delays.  Classes have been shortened providing teachers less time to wrap up on their last units and review material.  

“The two hour delays have given my calculus class at Career Center less time which has kept us from moving on in material,” senior Justin Myers said.

The schedule alterations from the past week only add to students stress of wondering if and how prepared they are for their final exam.

Do students really have enough time to cram months of material without having a review before the break? Winter break isn’t really a break if students are stressing over the many final exams and midterms they are going to take a week after they come back.

“I am a little worried because I am missing classes because of out-of-school activities and I will miss review periods,” freshman Anna Schuller said.

The simple solution to all this unnecessary stress would be to move the exams to before winter break to allow students to prepare for exams without a large gap of being in the classroom. Students and teachers both would be able to enjoy break without the upcoming stress of exams.