As the weather outside continues to get colder, and with winter break around the corner, it is clear that finals week is upon us.
For many students, finals look very different in college than they did in high school. While for some students, finals week may still be multiple exams spread over multiple days, many students have a more dynamic schedule. Some days may be exams, while others may be presentations, a due date for a paper or project or in some cases, a performance.
Senior Jordan Travers said, “My semester went by very quick. This felt like the shortest semester ever, which is bittersweet because it’s my last.”
Travers will wait to be in commencement this coming June so the feeling of graduating has not sunk in yet, she said.
“I plan on graduating in the start of my winter break but mostly focusing on working and relaxing,” Travers said when asked about winter break plans.
Other students who are not graduating after this semester feel differently about this past semester and have other plans for winter break.
Senior Allison Gibbons said, “I am so ready for break. I need the time to relax.” Opposite to Travers, she stated this felt like a much longer semester to her.
Gibbons plans to go to Disney World over break, which she has been planning for quite some time, she said.
Hunter Perkins is a sophomore who said he had a wonderful semester and has many plans for winter break including more than one vacation. Senior Riley Brouillard stated she had a fun and exciting semester and is only planning the same for spring.
“I had one of the best semesters and I can’t wait for the next one,” Brouillard said.
Junior Mykenzie Rives felt she had a good semester but said she was, “ready for academics to be over” when speaking about her feelings towards the semester ending.
Sophomore and music tech major Nick, who preferred not to share his last name, shared his experience.
When asked about his workload for finals week, Nick said he had “a couple of finals,” but that “a lot of my finals are performance-based.” When asked about what goes into preparing for such finals, Nick said “A lot of practicing and making sure I won’t be nervous.”
Senior psychology major Isolina Henshaw has three finals this semester. When asked if she has any specific ways in which she was preparing for finals, Henshaw said, “I like to write out or read a lot of my past tests or quizzes. I look over all different past materials.” Henshaw finished by stating that she was feeling “fairly confident” heading into finals.
First-year student Taylor Rock, an English and secondary education major, does not have the majority of her exams during finals week. “I have my finals this week instead of next week. I only come in for one final next week,” she said. Despite the early finals, Rock is feeling confident. “It’s a lot of papers, but I’m used to writing.”
When it comes to preparing for finals, Rock prefers to get a head start. “I typically look at my syllabus weeks ahead of time so that way I can prepare and get it done beforehand.”
A fellow English and secondary education major, junior Moses Fisher, also has a lot of writing to do.
“I’ve got one paper to write, one test. I’ve got a portfolio to put together, but I have the pieces already. I have to write a unit plan for my education classes. When I say it, it sounds like a lot, but it doesn’t seem too bad to me, as a lot of work has been done already.”
Fisher has a method for managing his workload. “Once it gets to the end of the semester, I make a list of my classes and what finals I have for those classes. I then make a chronological list of my finals in order, and prioritize them from there.”
When asked if he felt as though he was prepared for finals week, Fisher said, “Honestly it’s not too bad. I’ve been doing stuff as it comes along. It’s mostly putting on finishing touches now.”
Zach Murphy can be contacted at
zmurphy@kscequinox.com
Ava Pittman can be contacted at
apittman@kscequinox.com
