As we near the end of the semester, the anticipation of winter break is overshadowed by the ominous prospect of final exams. Dreaded by both the students who have to take them and the teachers who have to grade them, these tests are reasonably presented as a challenging chore. 

While this negative perception of finals may be fair, there are aspects of having final exams as high school students that are surprisingly beneficial. 

It’s safe to say that each year as you prepare for final exams, you collect more and more experience in building healthy and effective study habits that will assist you down the road. 

Compared to my first-ever finals freshman year which had me scrambling, frazzled, and trying to figure out the best way to handle them, I’m now a lot more confident in knowing what works for me. 

It’s a lot more important that you have that first experience taking final exams in ninth grade, rather than in your first year in college. 

Just think about it- if you’ve gone to a high school that implements final exams from your very first semester there, you will have been increasing your abilities to handle everything that comes with them for four years by the time you get to college. 

Even though every college class you take may not be guaranteed to have a final, general cumulative exam are pretty much a given in the majority of college-level courses. Students with more experience in dealing with these exams are more likely to have a better foundation than those who are being introduced for the first time.

Not only do finals prepare you for the next steps of your life, but they also help you do better in your endeavors throughout high school. Studying consistently leading up to them will give you a better understanding of the material and may help you achieve better grades on general assignments, quizzes, or projects. 

According to the Institute of Education Sciences, cumulative exams have been proven to improve long-term knowledge retention, cementing the very reason we go to school in the first place. 

In addition, final exams offer a chance of redemption for students who may have fallen short previously in the semester. 

Some may view the large percentage that finals take up of a grade as a negative thing, but if you think from the perspective of someone looking to raise their grade, it’s a great opportunity to work hard and get great results.

That being said, I can’t downplay the stress and pressure it puts on everyone involved. Finals are in no way, shape, or form ‘fun’, but they’re in our curriculum for a reason. 

The more you expose yourself to these types of exams, the better equipped you will be to take exams in the future, thus leading to greater long-term academic success.