With the holidays approaching students are being faced with one ultimate goal; To go into winter break without a stress load of work. Students at Air Academy High School have been facing a lot more work this year in 2021 compared to prior years before the pandemic. Going into the holiday season, students want to have a relaxing, joyful, and stress-free break. With finals week being the last week before winter break, it can be overwhelming thinking about how students will perform on their finals. 

“I have been really stressed going into finals. I know I am not the only student in my classes that are taking extreme measures to prepare. Me personally though I take honors chemistry and a lot of honors classes so with the workload given to us before even finals it’s stressing me out,” sophomore Abby Weaver stated. 

“In contrast to that I have been trying to just focus on academics right now. With finals coming up I really do want to end the year with a bang. So to prepare for finals I have been trying to definitely get a lot more help with things that confuse me. Making sure I am on the right track to prepare for finals,” Weaver noted self-assuringly.

It seems that a lot of AAHS students have been taking the initiative to start preparing for finals by making note cards or flashcards with their friends. These methods help students to stop procrastinating and actually get the work done. 

“I have been prepping, studying and quizzing myself constantly for finals. With the work I have put in I am really confident going into finals week. I also have been doing a lot of different methods of studying, my favorite getting quizzed by a friend,” sophomore Ethan Montaya commented assertively. 

Due to the fact that this is the first year underclassmen are taking finals at AAHS, some students do not know what to expect because of the unknown difficulty of the assignments. From the uncertainty of what to specifically study for finals, it can cause unnecessary stress amongst students who want to succeed. 

“I am a freshman this year and am taking some advanced classes. Which is causing me to stress out for the final, since I don’t really know what to expect for, if that will be hard or a breeze,” freshman Jaylon Andrews commented hesitantly. 

In comparison to underclassmen, it seems that the upperclassmen population has had a couple of years to prepare for finals. 

“With a couple of years on my belt of taking finals and such I am ready this year. I have counted and only have 3 final tests this year which is awesome instead of having one in every single class,” junior Emma Martin said cheerfully. 

With the holidays approaching, students do not want to endure a lot of tasks over break. So in preparation for the finals, it seems that a lot of students are trying to prepare in the best way possible for them. Whether that be studying with a friend or making flashcards to study individually, all of these factors contribute to a stress-free break. Over the stress-free break students can instead have some fun in the snow, make hot chocolate, go sledding, and or hang out with close family and friends this holiday season!