With the growing stress of SAT scores, deadlines for college
applications and keeping up with your GPA, seniors struggle to keep
pace. With one bad academic semester, you can wash your prior years
of hard work down the drain, ruining your chance for a good
college.
This year, San Benito High School helps out on this dilemma by
cutting the first semester short. Starting with the 2003-04 school
year, the first semester will end when Christmas vacation
begins.
With the growing stress of SAT scores, deadlines for college applications and keeping up with your GPA, seniors struggle to keep pace. With one bad academic semester, you can wash your prior years of hard work down the drain, ruining your chance for a good college.
This year, San Benito High School helps out on this dilemma by cutting the first semester short. Starting with the 2003-04 school year, the first semester will end when Christmas vacation begins.
In past years, the semester would drag on past Christmas break and into the new year leaving students with only about three weeks to prepare for finals (after they got back in January). The new schedule allows for students and teachers to relax during their long-awaited break without the worries of assignment deadlines and grade sheets.
Personally, this idea makes perfect sense. For the past three years of high school, there has always been the nervous tension during winter break, and the gnawing in the back of your head.Your brain is telling you, “It’s not over yet. Finals are just around the corner,” while everything around you is telling you to relax.
Luckily, most of the time you can relax. Still, a vacation is supposed to be a break, not just a moment in time to think about what you have to do when it’s over. All that is running through my head come Jan. 2 is that, in a little less than a month, I have finals to study for. It’s like that anticipation that robs you because it’s inevitable – no matter what you do it’s coming.
This change comes with a great amount of thankfulness and anticipation. Now, when Christmas break rolls around, all you have to worry about is what to get your family members for Christmas.
With this plan, last year’s work is put to rest and the new year marks the beginning. For the first time in my short high school career, I will get the chance to truly relax without the fear of losing knowledge of some math formula or some history fact that will help me have a better chance in getting accepted to college.
It’s not only the seniors who benefit – this change is beneficial for everyone. Students get to enjoy Christmas to different degrees of restfulness and teachers don’t have to worry about grading 150 students papers.
The new year will start with a clean slate and hopefully give students a better handle on things; maybe this will improve their attitude and also their grades. I am glad the school board went with this change and, hopefully, it will work out for the long run. As for me, I can’t wait for Dec. 19 – it makes me look forward to it in a different way.
Ben Bannister is a senior at San Benito High School.
