As final exam week starts, stress levels rise for many students across CdM. Between studying for multiple tests, completing last-minute assignments, and balancing extracurricular activities, students are starting to feel overwhelmed by the pressure to perform well. While some stress can motivate students to succeed, courses that require a lot of studying normally affect a lot of the students’ mental health, as well as their overall performance on their upcoming tests.

Ella Tran (9) feels more comfortable for her math final as she has studied the most for it, and understands the topics and problems on the test, as she has been preparing for that class by completing the practice exams. Tran said that her friends have been a huge help in calming her stress for her finals, as they have been helping her study. She is most worried and stressed about her English final as she has to perform a speech in front of her class, and “public speaking isn’t something [I am] confident about,” and she also didn’t practice beforehand. Like many other students, Tran was stressed about taking her AP Human Geography final, as it was her first-ever AP.

Lauren Stoica (10) feels less stressed for finals week due to the lack of exams that she has. She is most ready for her history final, as there is no exam to be taken and she only has to complete a presentation. Lauren relied on her friends and teachers to make her feel prepared for finals week because they are able to “help [me] study and also understand new material.” Stoica feels most stressed about her math final because she didn’t feel as prepared with the topics and was also worried about only having two hours to complete the long test. Lastly, Stoica was happy and felt relieved that she didn’t have any AP tests, as that would have made her feel more stressed over the past month.