With the new year of 2018 having recently flipped LFHS’ calendar, the ever-growing dread of finals–especially at the midweek mark as students are becoming increasingly exhausted–is coming to a point. The more time students spend studying, the more students think to themselves how much different this time of year would be if we had only taken our final exams before break. While neighboring schools like Woodlands Academy and Mundelein High School have already taken their finals before break, it begs the question: Why haven’t we made the switch?

Well, for the freshman, sophomores, and juniors at LFHS, I have some good news. We have made the switch. This will be the last year that LFHS students will take finals after holiday break. In fact, starting next year Finals Week will be moved from January 16 to nearly a full month forward, landing on December 17 in 2019. This will ultimately leave students a full two weeks of break to unwind and relax.   

While many, if not all, students are excited for next year’s finals schedule, those of us whose new year’s resolution was to procrastinate less, finals before break can still be a problem. For a lot of students, winter break provides a ton of time to catch up on work and prepare for our final exams. In year’s past, students would only have one week after break before finals, as opposed to two like we have had this year, which provided a nice buffer between holiday break and final exams. Student body VP and captain of the basketball team, Drew Arnson, had this to say about The Switch. “Personally, I think finals after winter break can be great. It gives us a full week or more after break to study.” He also added that,  “if you are feeling concerned you can easily study over break,” and, for some students, school, he notes, “would be super cramped with other activities for most people before break.” Lastly, Arnson, who is well-versed in AP exams, seems most interested in the student feedback regarding the switch despite graduating before the new finals schedule will come into effect.   

Alluding to a different perspective, sophomore Rylie Mills thinks that taking finals before break would, “help students get better grades on their finals, because if we were to take finals before break, all the information you’ve learned would be fresh in your mind.” Mills, like many students, finds the variety of information tough to recall in its entirety when we return from the extended holiday break. 

Clearly, opinions on The Switch are varied among LFHS students. We will have to wait until students are able to experience both schedules to ultimately determine which is best suited for academic success.