Submitted By: Katherine Han
Many students today are taking finals in junior high. Junior high seems like an early time to start taking finals, something that you normally would take in high school. To many people, it does seem early, however, there are many benefits to taking finals in junior high, as well as many negatives.
Finals are a good way to prepare students for when they have to start taking finals in high school. This is probably one of the main reasons why schools are now making students take finals in junior high. High school life is a lot busier than life in junior high. Having to adjust to high school while learning to take finals can prove to be too much for someone to handle. However, if you have learned how to take finals before you start high school, then you are already one step ahead and it will make life a lot easier. Additionally, you would have mastered an efficient way to study for finals. By having prior experience, you will be able to trust that you will do fine on the finals based on your past experiences of taking them. This means you won’t waste time trying different studying tactics that may not end up working for you.
Besides preparing you for high school, finals can also help you review the material you learned in that semester or during the school year. Finals really help to cement the material in your brain. If you don’t use or see the material in your daily life, you will most likely forget it. Finals really help you to remember the material. Since finals are such a huge part of your grade, it becomes a big deal. Reviewing the materials helps you revisit what you learned. Taking the test helps you to keep the knowledge locked up in your head.
Finals are also a good way to learn some test-taking strategies, like time-management. At my school, you only get two hours to complete a hundred-question final. This means you can only spend so much time on a question. Throughout this process you have to trust that you know the material well, and that you have a good sense of time-management. If you stay on one question for too long, you may not have enough time to answer the other questions. You learn that you can skip a question and go back to it later. You have to pace yourself and ration out your time according to how many questions you have to answer in that certain amount of time.
Aside from all the benefits, there are also some negatives to taking finals in junior high too. Finals are a pretty big deal, so it becomes a stressful thing. Learning shouldn’t be all about the grades, but sometimes, finals can make it feel like that. Students will get stressed about how their grade will turn out after the finals, leading them to be more stressed about their grade and put greater focus on their GPA or grade rather than on the material itself. Also, students may not always have enough time to fully study for the finals, which can cause the downfall of their grades.
Taking finals in junior high has both benefits and negatives. You get prepared for high school, learn the material better, and you develop good test-taking strategies. But, finals can also be something very stressful for students. Overall, taking finals in junior high can be a good idea, but it can also become something students dread.
