This 2019-2020 school year, students were given the amazing privilege of not taking midterms. Year round classes had no final testing, but semester classes required an A average. 

Hearing this news during orientation I was amazed. Midterms have been something I’ve dreaded since my first year of high school, and I knew my senior year was going to be much better without them. 

Most students can probably relate that testing is a huge source of unnecessary stress. Not only can they be extremely difficult for those who are bad test takers, but the pressure from parents and teachers expecting a passing grade can be overwhelming. 

At the end of this semester, I was able to focus on my grades and school work rather than trying to study things I’ve learned months before. As for my semester classes, I was motivated to strive for the highest A possible so I would be exempt from the test. 

To add to the list of horrible things about midterms, they can also make or break your grade, which I always found quite disheartening. 

The “no midterms” rule this year allowed students to prove themselves throughout the semester by doing well in their classes. One big test should never determine the amount of effort you put into that class. A few mistakes and wrong answers practically throws the hard work you’ve put in during the year. 

I was quite open about the glee I felt when the stress at the end of second quarter never came, and to my surprise, I got mixed responses from my peers. 

Many said that they preferred to have midterms because we were able to go home after the tests were taken. I can’t help but agree that leaving school early was great, but that is just one benefit lost against all the other benefits gained. 

Unfortunately, this new rule has also come with a catch. Final exams will still take place, but instead of studying for material learned in third and fourth quarter, the tests will cover what you’ve learned all year. 

This was really a point of upset for me. Having to go over lessons that were learned almost a year before is going to be a real challenge. From my point of view, this might be a real flop, but we’ll just have to see how it goes. 

All in all, I was more than happy to have had the stress of midterms taken away my senior year, and I could have only wished this new rule was implemented earlier on in my high school career.