The end of the quarter has arrived and students all throughout Towson can feel the weight of grades lifted off of their shoulders. This quarter has been especially stressful with the additional agony of midterms. The start of third quarter offers a fresh start and new opportunities that many students have been anticipating.  

Midterms are a large source of anxiety and panic for countless students all over the school. These assessments make up a large portion of points for quarterly grades and could potentially determine your final grade. One of the most critical midterms for sophomores was the AP Psychology midterm. This evaluation covered all of the information that has been learned so far this year. For many psychology students, this was a make or break test, grade wise. 

Assessments weren’t the only origin of worry during this midterm season. The county uses a schedule to assign two midterms each day that attempts to lessen concerns but a significant number of teachers did not follow the schedule, which cause problems of its own. 

With some teachers following the schedule and others not, midterms piled up on specific days while others had zero. This only increased the already substantial stress that students are faced with.  

Students like sophomore Rachael Saeli claimed, “it was especially stressful since the schedule wasn’t followed and I had three midterms on one day.” 

After some investigation, I discovered teachers were actually making an effort to alleviate some of the stress. They felt it would be too many tests at one time and were attempting to spread out the schedule. Psychology teacher Mr. Olson noted, “I didn’t want to give two tests at once it wouldn’t be fair.” Surprise days off caused a sufficient amount of unforeseen problems. 

Since second quarter takes place in the middle of winter, snow days are always a present concern. Midterm week was especially snowy and students already had Monday off for MLK day, which left school with a two-and-a-half-day week.  

Usually students are overjoyed to stay home and sleep away a snowy day but with a crucial time limit, students felt the burden of too many midterms and not enough time.  

Whether it was the messed-up testing schedule or the wintery season, 2018 was definitely a tiring and restless year for quarterly exams. To look on the bright side, all these stressors only make students more grateful for the new quarter and hopeful for new grades.