Students React to Looming Midterms
With first-quarter grades finalized, and the semester more than halfway complete, midterms are on the minds of a wide array of Weston High School students, and stress is running high.
More specifically, current sophomores are feeling disproportionately stressed about these upcoming assessments. Sophomore Marlo Ferrante says “I’m just very nervous because I have no idea what to expect, and this is the first midterm the class of 2024 has taken.” Current sophomores went through their entire freshman year not having taken midterms or finals, and the sense of ambiguity around the rigor and format of midterms is bringing rise to an undue amount of stress.
It’s worth noting that many high school students have taken a midterm or a final, during their middle school career, typically in a math class. Though, the difficulty of those courses do not compare to that of high school classes. As if that’s not enough, current sophomores spent half of their eighth grade year entirely online, and went through freshman year under a hybrid model, with some students staying VDL for the entire year. Sprinkle in a few periods of time during which the entire school returned to online distance-learning, to curb transmission, and the anxiety regarding these exams start to add up.
In a survey given to Weston High School sophomores, which gauged their sentiments on the upcoming midterms, the results were not all too shocking, and they illustrated just how stressed students feel. When asked to rate the extent to which they felt stressed, on a scale of 1-10, with a lower number representing higher levels of anxiety, 79% respondents answered below a 4. What’s more, 100% of respondents reported that they feel as though last year’s hybrid learning had a negative impact on their level of preparedness for this year’s midterms.
When asked about the number of teachers that have begun explaining the scope of this year’s midterms, 63% of respondents reported that none of their teachers have gone into that kind of depth. Given the amount of time until the exam dates, that’s relatively understandable, though it does not change the fact that many students feel unduly worried about these assessments, and for this class in particular, a brief explanation could allay anxieties over exam content and formatting.
In a question asking whether or not they feel that their classes are preparing them well for midterms, a striking 71% answered in the negative, underscoring the unfamiliarity they have with these types of assessments; they have no way to conceive of midterms, and are preparing for the absolute worst, in hopes that their exams prove more favorable than they anticipate.
Considering all of this data, it’s safe to say that the class of 2024, at large, does not feel adequately prepared for the upcoming midterms. What’s even more disconcerting is the slew of comments that sophomores have regarding the exams.
Another sophomore, Uma Boujnah, noted that “over the hybrid year” her ability to perform on assessments was “tarnished,” and made clear that her “academic abilities are evident through [her] work at school,” dismissing the notion that a midterm could properly reflect her facility in academic work. This prevailing sense of confidence, that she demonstrates, reveals the resilience of this class, and there lies promising hope in her remarks.
However, there are a great deal of students who are understandably distressed by the thought of taking a midterm, and as Mia Oren puts it, “I am afraid.” It is the unfortunate, yet realistic, outlook sophomores carry on with, as they embark into their midterms.