Time Management and Study Strategies: Students Tackle Stressful Midterm Season
By Samantha Sun and Melody Tang
STAFF WRITER AND ONLINE EDITOR
AHS students are preparing for midterms, a series of academic tests that mark the first half of the year, falling in a four-day period between January 16 to 19.
Midterm exams are meant to be a tool for teachers to better examine the progress of students during their time in class, but many students find it stressful to prepare for so many tests at once.
Freshmen this year are taking midterms for the first time, and there is some nervousness arising from it as a new concept entering high school.
Freshman Kiera D’Angelo added her thoughts on how intimidating midterms seem. “I have never had any sort of test like this before and I don’t quite know what to expect,” said D’Angelo. It is different from the middle school experience, which may contribute to the pressure freshmen feel.
One of the struggles freshmen like D’Angelo had was where to begin. “I had no idea how to effectively study and learn how to have long-term memorization,” said DAngelo, and she wishes underclassmen could receive advice from upperclassmen or counselors.
Luckily, seniors have already completed the midterms process three times, and have plenty of advice to give to underclassmen. Senior Ellen Chou assures that there are plenty of options to help you get started studying for midterms if you’re having trouble. She suggested, “If your teacher has made a study guide, then definitely study everything on that. For other topics like science and math, watching videos to review, like The Organic Chemistry Tutor, Khan Academy, and Amoeba Sisters, are helpful if you feel like you need to re-teach yourself something.” Chou also recommended keeping an organized binder or folder so that students can look at in-class material while studying.”
Chou additionally finds the Pomodoro method helpful while studying, a technique that breaks your studying session into 25-minute intervals of continuous work and 5-minute breaks in-between. “I used this method a lot during AP exams and I found it really helpful,” said Chou.
Because midterms encompass testing for every class, it requires a lot of time management, study material, and concepts. This causes a lot of stress for those who do not know how to study for multiple tests at once.
“Last year…I wasn’t used to it and it was something new for me,” said Razan Hawat, a sophomore who was also nervous [about] taking it for the first time last year. “But I realize[d] if you have the time to study for it, it’s not too bad.”
One of the mistakes Hawat made as a freshman was not managing her time well. “I think I learned from last year that I shouldn’t wait for the last minute,” Hawat noted. Stressing out the night before and cramming information last-minute is a mistake many people make.
“I do find that my phone can be a real distraction when I study,” said D’Angelo, as she described the occasional obstacles. Procrastination is also another factor that students struggle to deal with, not just freshmen. D’Angelo agreed that it is difficult to overcome the temptations of social media, and talking to friends is also a distractor.
Chou agrees to “time yourself well and don’t procrastinate.” She recommends the Notion app to organize and plan for midterms. “I find it helpful to be able to visually see the work that needs to be done so I would recommend making a checklist of assignments,” stated Chou. Chou also believes that everyone learns best in their own ways and suggests testing multiple methods—like watching videos, re-reading textbooks, or self-testing—to see what works best.
Many students believe midterms are not a measure of success or intelligence. Although the results do contribute to a percentage of a grade, it isn’t necessarily an accurate representation of a student’s learning capabilities. Sophomore Zoe Roberts stated that “determining whether this learning was done in class, over a reasonable period, or independently crammed in days before the test, is where a midterm falls short.” Chou added that, because there is such a large amount of information to study, it is “an okay reflection of [a student’s] progress.”
Roberts finds that putting excessive stress on midterms isn’t worth it and that as long as students try their best. It’s difficult to get A’s on everything, which may be why so many freshmen are worried about the midterm exams.
