The end of the first semester brings excitement for Christmas and the two week long break. But before students and teachers can unwind and relax, they have to survive Finals Week.

Preparing for certain classes can be more challenging than others. Whether the issues involve understanding the material or just having a difficult class.

“I struggle to study math and English,” sophomore Emma Baker said. “I feel like math does not have many things to memorize. You just need to know how to do the equations.” 

With experience, students find new and different ways to study and prepare. 

“I usually make my own Quizlet,” Junior Jaren Sander said. “All the different features really help study for almost anything.”

While some techniques may be useful for some subjects, others need different tactics.

“Quizlet is really good for most subjects,” Sanders said. “But for math it doesn’t really help. For math I usually go online to Khan Academy to watch the videos over what could be on the Final,” Sanders said. 

Preparing and studying for finals can be challenging and even tiring. But for freshman Eli Augustine, everything is pretty straightforward.

“Most of my classes are straightforward,” Augustine said. “I usually try not to stress over it too much. I like to think of it as just another test.”

Some students tend to spend days or even weeks studying for their classes. Other people prefer studying before the test to refresh their minds to better remember the material.

“I usually go back over my notes right before the class,” Augustine said. “After I go over the material, I have a friend test me over my notes.” “Doing that right before a test helps me warm up my brain and refresh on the material.”

Some teachers provide study guides to their students.

“Most of my classes gave out note guides,” Augustine said. “They really help us figure out what to study and prepare more for what is on the final. But in English, she basically is just telling us to study what we feel like we need to.”

“We never took finals in middle school,” freshman Gavin Matthews said. “Before our teachers told us about it this year I never even really knew what finals were.”

Being new to finals can cause confusion.

“Since we haven’t ever taken them before, I do have some uncertainty,” Matthews said. “Being new to it all does cause some stress and makes me somewhat nervous about taking them.”

Students who have taken finals in the past still find themselves stressed before tests. Even though they study hard, there is still the pressure to perform well. 

“Finals do cause me stress because I want to do well,” Baker said. “There’s no guarantee that I will fully remember everything that will be on them. I try to study as well as I can so that I am prepared for whatever the tests throw at me.” 

Finals for GHS students will occur next Monday through Wednesday.