Arrowhead High School’s first semester, 2017 finals, will be on Tuesday, January 17th, Wednesday the 18th, and Thursday the 19th. There are three finals per day lasting 60 minutes with four minute break in between tests. Students have the rest of the day off after their last final to study and take a mental break before the next day of finals.

If a student has permission from their parents, they are able to leave campus during their study hall periods or they can visit a therapy dog in the South and North campus libraries.

Many students such as sophomore Rachel Diel begin studying a few days in advance. According to Diel, studying a few days in advance and studying the weekend before  helps her jog her memory and touch base on all the informations he has learned throughout the semester.

Similarly, senior Abby Leyden, says she studies in advance for finals but she studies up to two weeks before finals depending on the difficulty of the final.

“I begin preparations for finals a few days in advance before finals. I do this so I can refresh my my mind with all the information that I have learned throughout the year. I probably study for about two hours. I do this because there is a lot of information that I have to go over and it takes time to really remember what I have forgotten from the beginning of the semester,” says Diel.

According to English 10 teacher Rayen Elmergreen, students should study throughout the semester to keep their skills fresh in their memory. Elmergreen says she  encourages her students to keep up with their grammar skills and reading comprehension throughout the year. If the exam is more content based, Elmergreen suggests students start studying as soon as they know what the exam will be about.

“Waiting until the night before is a poor choice; you may know it for the moment, but you will quickly forget it. Finals are an overall snapshot of what you took away from the class, so it is important to accurately reflect what you know. Are finals the most important part of learning? Absolutely not, but they are a final chance to show that you understand what the class was trying to teach you,” says Elmergreen.

According to Elmergreen, another important aspect of finals is taking mental breaks. Elmergreen says burning your mind out is a real thing and you have to set reasonable goals for yourself. Some examples Elmergreen gives are studying for an hour then watching your favorite TV show with a snack or going for a walk.

Students like Diel and sophomore Savannah Knaak also believe that taking breaks, such as listening to music or visiting a nearby coffee shop, are important when it comes to studying.

“I like to take a couple of minutes everyday while studying for finals to do something that doesn’t involve school like knitting or playing with my cat,” says Leyden.

In addition to coping with finals outside of school, many students including Leyden and Diel enjoy visiting the therapy dogs located in the library during finals week. According to Diel, she likes to go visit the dogs during her study hall periods or visit them during passing period because it helps relieve her stress.

“During my study hall I like to either go see the dogs or stay and study, I don’t like to leave school because it gets me out of the test taking zone,” says Leyden.