Finals are such a stressful topic, many students get anxiety just thinking about it. It’s difficult to remember a whole semester of learning, often carried throughout multiple classes. How do students stay focused and study during these upcoming days before finals?
A big difficulty for students is finding the right time to study, and seeing what works for them. This can also include locations as well, varying from person to person, there is no right answer on how to study, as long as it works for you.
“Usually at night, like at home, I’ll do kind of the lighter workloads, and the easier stuff that I can just do real quick, and then I can have my own little free time the rest of the day, but I’ll usually study in the morning for most of the bigger stuff,” Rylan Gough (‘27) said. “Usually I’ll study alone, I’ll go to Starbucks in the morning just by myself, just get as much done as I can… I like to study most in the morning because my mind’s just like fresh, off wake up, and I can just lock in on just what I’m learning and stuff, there’s not a lot on my mind.”
Finding out how to study is important, but arguably what is more important is being prepared ahead of time. Students struggling with procrastination may know how to study, but it is important to be ready and prepared so you can also have time for sleep, overall creating a better learning environment.
“Number one mistake students make is that they think they can cram all night. So they stay up till super late and then by reading over your AP US notes 17,000 times, it doesn’t make you memorize any better than it did the first 5,000 times,” Mr. Davis, Arlington high school’s physics teacher said. “Get sleep, the most important thing is your sleep habits and getting up and having a good breakfast and preparing yourself to take the test. You’ll do way better than continuing to cram and stay up too late.”
It’s important to know what subjects you are weakest in, recognizing that you may need more focus on different subjects helps you set up a study schedule to set you right on track for success.
“Math is the hardest to study for I think, because… I’m just not great at it. So it takes a lot longer [to study for],” Bailey Hitzel (‘27) said. “I normally start studying three days before whatever test I have, and then I study the most the night before.”
Overall, it is important to find out what is right for you, finals can be stressful but as long as you plan your studying carefully, you can go into your finals more confident knowing that you prepared.
“Sleep is more important than extra study time…I think eight hours is the goal. If you get more, that’s great, but it’s terrible to stay up till two in the morning and try to come in and take a test. You will not be successful,” Davis said.
