Quarantining because of COVID can be burdening to students and academically challenging, especially during finals week. Exam week is already hard enough, but things can become more complicated with additional stress from having COVID during finals week and creating a new finals schedule.

Junior Sheila Falls tested positive for COVID during finals week (December 13-16). Additionally, seniors Lindsay and Kenz Fontana tested positive for Covid halfway through finals week. 

Unfortunately, having COVID during finals week brought many troubles to these students. 

“Having COVID during finals week was very frustrating at first, but I eventually accepted it,” Lindsay Fontana said. 

Lindsay lucked out because some of her finals occurred before being diagnosed with COVID.

“I did most of my finals either online or before, which helped me when I came back,” Lindsay Fontana said. 

However, things weren’t as easy for junior Sheila Falls. None of her teachers had online options for her, and it seemed very unorganized. 

“I had to have Google Meets with my counselor every day for a week because the status of what my finals were going to look like kept changing,” Falls said. 

That there was no set protocol for what students would need to do, and it was frustrating for Falls as none of her teachers had the same plan for how she was going to take her finals.

Quarantine also brought additional issues to Kenz Fontana’s schedule. Being back at school with new second-semester work and sports, on top of completing first-semester finals, is challenging. 

“It is stressful now because we are learning new material, and I am still studying the old material,” Kenz Fontana said. 

Unfortunately, the tests were just as complex as they were initially, and Lindsay, Kenz, and Falls were not exempt from any of their final exams. Luckily, some of their teachers were helpful by allowing flexibility with their schedules. Additionally, their teachers were patient in allowing them to take their tests at times that worked well for them both.

“I am excited to finish the rest of my tests and not have to worry about them anymore,” Lindsay Fontana said.