It is time to cram

It is time to cram

Brace yourselves.

Finals are now upon us. It is that time of year again when the first semester is almost over and teachers are now reviewing for their finals. Finals can induce late nights, excessive studying, stress and many caffeine drinks. BHS students will be taking finals from Wednesday, Dec. 17, through Friday, Dec. 19. Every teacher will be administering some sort of final to finish off the semester. Go to https://www.bulldogbulletinonline.com/news/2014/12/04/finals-schedule/ to read the full schedule.

Everybody has a final they are worried about. Everybody also has different levels of stress.

“I am fairly stressed about finals but that’s been the case every single year so hopefully I don’t end up as stressed as I have in the past, but I know I will be,” senior Maverick Feldt said. “The class I’m most worried about is English, that’s because my grade is lowest in there and I just need to work on making sure I do well so I can raise my grade up. For me, Culinary Arts 2 is the easiest final and Mrs. Smith probably has the hardest because we are going to have to cover everything.”

Feldt is not the only senior worried about finals this semester.

“I am probably more stressed than I have been in previous years but I’m still not that stressed about it,” senior Austin ORourke said. “I’m most worried about Calculus and it’s also the hardest one. The easiest final is Hartman’s with Earth and Space Science.”

Stress seems to be a common theme among BHS students, but teachers say they can come over that with good study habits.

“For my final being easy or hard it depends on the student and the preparation that they put into it. If they have studied they usually do pretty well on it but if they don’t their score can be low,” English teach Kit Harris said. “I’d say about ¾ of students have a B or higher grade. For finals I recommend to start early, don’t wait until the last minute, ask the teacher for help if you have questions and make sure you follow what is on the study guide.”

English teacher Stacy Smith said that if students have not done the work they are probably going to have a tough time on finals.

“From a students point of view I would probably have to stereotype and generalize all students which is a difficult thing to do. For some students the final isn’t that tedious because on a day to day basis they’ve been keeping up with what’s going on, but if I were to stereotype and generalize and lump all students together and brand them as inattentive and irresponsible then they are probably going to have a very difficult time on the final,” Smith said.

Though Smith says that kids might have a difficult time with his finals, students improve after the curve.

“Kids usually do good after I curve it then it adjusts down to the classroom environment and how we as a class have made progress throughout the semester. I deliberately make it pretty difficult for kids so that there is a challenge in there somewhere and they feel like their time is well spent but most kids do fairly well,” Smith said.

Smith also says that good study habits are a must and recommends “Cram & Cocoa” to help students study.

“Cram and Cocoa is my first recommendation for finals because it alleviates the tension, its a chance to hang out with good people, have a good time and have good snacks. And everything else will come out in the wash because if you’ve prepared, you’ve done what you are supposed to do then you are rewarded with success,” Smith said.