Finals can be a stressful time for students filled with tests, hours of studying and devotion to their school work. They happen twice a year for students at South and, in order to guarantee success, many high school students use their own tips and tricks to help them through this time.
The first tip is to start studying early. As cliche as this might sound, studying the night before finals is not productive or beneficial. It is essential to begin studying at least the week before, this way more difficult material has time to be understood and to sink in.
“A tip for studying for finals is [to] make sure to organize your work in a way that’s possible for you personally to do. But make sure you also have the content from your teachers that you need to know for the final,” Draven Henne ‘19 said.
Henne is a seasoned finals taker with four years of experience to look back on. Although this tip is not one that will work for everyone, it may be helpful for some.
Another great tip is to create a study guide. If the teacher does not provide a study guide for the class, creating a personal one is not only useful to study with after it is completed, it is also a good way to review of the material because the information is being written down.
Something that many people may not think of is to attend review sessions. If there are review sessions available it is a smart idea to attend them because there are people there to answer any questions. At the study sessions there will be plenty of people to help so there is no need to spend hours sitting at a desk with no idea what the answer to the question is.
Ariana Andrade ‘20 takes the more social route when preparing for her finals.
“I am actually talking to my teachers and trying to go over my work from this semester and last semester,” Andrade said.
Talking to teachers can be a great way to figure out if everything is on track and what content the final may focus on. Another helpful tip from Andrade is to “try to be caught up [on all classwork and tests] before finals.”
These can be difficult to focus in, but group study sessions can be beneficial for some. Studying with other people can make it a more enjoyable experience and not as boring. It is easy to get distracted when working with others, so it is necessary to take caution and make sure to stay on topic.
Teaching someone else can also be a great way to study. Whether it be a parent, sibling or another person, this form of studying can help refresh the information being studied. It also requires that the information being told is known very well, so that the mock student will actually understand the content.
Although finals are a stressful time for students, utilizing study tips for finals can amount to more success and properly preparing for them can lower stress brought on by them.
