Photo courtesy of slohs.com

San Luis Obispo high school students struggle through finals week three times a year, but the existence of finals has no benefit to the SLOHS school system.

Finals are two hour exams for each class to prove what the student has learned across the trimester. Theoretically, these should simply be the fulfillment of all the student has learned throughout the trimester. However, the fundamental issue is the amount of points the final is worth in our school.

Finals can often range between ten to thirty percent of a student’s grade in the class and even greater in college. While it is a good idea to give people practice for college finals, it ignores the fact that doing poorly on a final could damage a student’s chances for college.

“Finals are worth so much in comparison to all the other work in a trimester that it’s off balance” said freshman Jordyn McNabb.

The structure of a final system undermines the entire trimester of work that the student has put in, since if they struggle on the day of the test their grade will crash. In the end, the final determines the grade.

While students are given warning in advance and are free to study before the finals, that doesn’t mean that all students have this opportunity. SLOHS students are burdened with homework and extracurricular activities, and the onslaught of extracurriculars and homework doesn’t stop before finals week.

These activities only stop on the first day of finals, meaning that students will have to stay up later in order to study. Even so, trying to study and memorize an entire trimester of material is extremely difficult, especially for a class like history or math.

“It is pointless to try and memorize an entire trimester of content all for a final exam,” said freshman Anja Reed.

A trimester of student work shouldn’t have to go to waste, which is why finals need to be worth less points overall.