With the month of May comes the sweet smell of spring, flowers in bloom, the promise of summer and the terror of final exams. Many high school students were already brimming with uneasiness and madly punching numbers into their calculators to see “just how badly I can do on my final” and still get the grade they want in the class. 

Some students from Ladue Horton Watkins High School were wondering, “Will I get any extra credit for proving that a teenager can survive for a week on nothing but chocolate and Red Bull?” 

Others from John Burroughs School passionately supported the common high school notion that showers are optional during finals week. 

Virtually all agreed that shaving is a frivolous, time-wasting luxury reserved for those who are looking to procrastinate.

Final exams definitely appear to separate the wheat from the chaff. Some students lamented that they probably should have taken the plastic wrap off their textbooks before now or purchased them before the bookstore sold out. Others desperately speculated on whether they would receive any points on the exam for merely writing their name. One student remarked that this year’s final exam week would force him to move past the denial and excuses stages of failure into the acceptance phase a bit too early in his academic career.

Fortunately, many high achieving Ohr Chadash readers experiencing great success in their past final exam experiences offered several tips.

Mitzi Harris, a sophomore at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School and congregant of Central Reform Congregation, recommends making study guides in each class a few weeks ahead of finals. For students who tend to feel anxious during finals, Mitzi recommends focusing on calming her nerves, “because that is what usually gets in the way.” 

In order to prevent stress and nerves from interfering, Mitzi said,  that “right when I sit down, I will write some tricks I taught myself to help myself remember information.” 

Superstitions also play a role in final exam preparation. 

“A bunch of my friends will chew different flavors of gum when they’re studying different subjects, and then they will chew that same flavor of gum when they’re taking the test, like cinnamon with science and mint with math,” Mitzi said.

Other students embraced the idea that early attention to studying is a key ingredient in success. Sydney Tischler, a sophomore at John Burroughs School and congregant of United Hebrew, emphasized the need to get a jump-start on preparation. 

“I start studying ridiculously early for finals, like a month before,” Sydney said. In terms of superstitions, “I always wear a blue-and-yellow striped, Burroughs rugby shirt to my winter finals, and they always turn out well for me,” she said.

Regardless of their individual approaches to finals, several pieces of advice universally rang out from these seasoned test takers:

• Create a quiet study area free from disruptions, which includes putting your cell phone in a “distraction box.”  

• Take a study break every one to two hours and do 15 minutes of a mindless activity, such as taking a walk or listening to your favorite music, in order to refresh and reset your brain.  

• Review any old tests you have since many teachers ask questions similar to those asked on earlier exams. 

• Lastly, have confidence!

Good luck and happy studying!