Every year during the month of January, students in high school take their midterm and final exams. The midterm is a test for teachers to understand a student’s level of understanding for the course they are taking. It’s a way for teachers to accommodate students in any way to support their success. If one does well on the midterm, it will most likely make the class easier in the long run, knowing most of the material already. If one does poorly, it will be difficult to understand what materials you need to learn.
Zoey Nichols ’26 expresses the stress associated with midterm week and how she contains her stress during a rushed week.
“Since the beginning of the year, teachers have made sure to get us prepared for midterms,” Nichols said. “I think that with all the work we’ve done I’ll be prepared.”
Teachers provide material through the beginning months of school that gives students a broad understanding of what material is to be shown on the test. Teachers only want the best for their students and want to get everyone prepared for the best. In many ways, having somewhat of an understanding of how and what the midterm will look like it can limit stress for the students.
Chevy McGlone ‘25 describes what teachers do over the course of the class to get you prepared and how the time teachers take to prepare students helps her with the midterm.
“Most teachers try their best but overall I feel like test stress is a build up for so much that there’s not much anyone can do about it and most of the time teachers can really just help and get everyone prepared.”McGlone ’25 said.
Having an understanding of what material is not the only thing students may need help with in order to do well in the midterm. Taking care of yourself can also help you. Going to bed early, eating healthy and exercising can all be factors of success. Being relaxed during the midterm can help clear one’s mind to be focused on just the test material.
Courtney Hardin ‘25 expresses the relationship between taking better care of yourself and how staying up isn’t good for you in the long run.
“Taking care of myself better during this stressful time makes me feel well rested and thinking positive thoughts in my head helps me,” Hardin ’25 said. “I used to stay up late and study and would barely get enough sleep for the next day which made it hard to focus and do well. After those incidents I found a better way to help me and now I get enough sleep and do better.”
Time management is also a huge factor to not only school in general but also big tests such as midterms. Studying materials ahead of time will benefit students. If classes are more spread out, it’s best to study for those upcoming tests than for all seven of them. Students can learn more with just studying for the test coming and learning more later. Having good time management will help with organization and what is needed for improvement yourself.
“Time management takes your mind off school for a bit and helps you be distracted from all the stress that might occur,” Hardin said. “ I never really had good time management but as soon as I found a way that fit me I could do my work better and be relaxed at the same time and I feel as if that’s the only thing you need to succeded.”
