The last two weeks of school before winter break are always the
most hectic for the students and staff of Anzar High School.
In those two weeks, the students have to take their finals and,
if they are juniors or seniors, they may have to present their
graduation exhibitions. Among other things, this means the teachers
are bugged for help non-stop.
The last two weeks of school before winter break are always the most hectic for the students and staff of Anzar High School.
In those two weeks, the students have to take their finals and, if they are juniors or seniors, they may have to present their graduation exhibitions. Among other things, this means the teachers are bugged for help non-stop.
And then there’s the anticipation knowing that in two weeks or less, teachers and students will have a nice, long vacation where they can visit with family and friends, sleep in until 10 in the morning, and of course, open presents.
Exhibitions are a graduation requirement every student must pass during their junior and senior years in order to graduate from Anzar. They consist of written reports that generally range from nine to 30 pages and oral reports that usually last about 30 minutes to two hours.
It is a pass/fail system – 0-1 being a fail and 2-3 being pass. From Monday, Dec. 8, to Friday, Dec. 12, exhibitions were being presented to judges who had already read the written reports. These judges decided whether or not students passed or failed their exhibitions, and from what I’ve heard, nobody failed, but don’t mark my words for it.
Exhibitions are extremely stressful for both teachers and students, because the students have to make their last minute preparations and they need the teachers’ help at times. And then comes the paranoia on the day of the presentation, even if a student had been confident in themselves up until that day, they begin to worry about whether or not they will pass.
Aaahhhh, finally that’s over with and now there’s nothing to worry about, right? Wrong. From Monday, Dec. 15, to Friday, Dec. 19, we had to review for and take our final tests. We had two days to rest between exhibitions and finals, and the majority of us didn’t even get the chance to rest because we needed to study.
Finals are the most important test we take each semester, they consist of everything we’ve learned this semester and are worth 10 to 15 percent of our semester grades. As a matter of fact, some teachers give you whatever you get on your final as your semester grade. So we all needed to study, but how can you study when you know that in five days you’ll be free of school for three weeks, you’ll get lots of presents and have a whole lot of fun?
Those last two weeks of school were some of the most stressful days of my life, but I passed my exhibition with a 2, I did well on all of my finals, and now I feel like I really accomplished a lot over this last semester.
Finally, the Anzar students and staff can relax and enjoy what they have looked forward to since the first day of school: freedom!
Bryce Galvan is a junior at Anzar High School.
