The Auroran is proud to present their new debate-form article, MUDSLINGER. This month, Opinion Editor Yarely Gaytan and Copy Editor Sirena Troutt go head-to-head on final exams: are they worth the worry, or has stress become a new form of drama? This debate was overseen by Sports and Feature Editor Emma Steele. Yarely is purple. Sirena is gold.
RULES:
- The debate must be kept civil (no profanity, insults, etc.)
- Attacks and responses are limited to exactly three sentences.
- Opponents must each state their argument clearly.
- Turns must be equal. Each turn will have the same number of starting statements, evidence, and/or rebuttals.
- The debate will end once a rule is broken, or an editor can no longer defend their point.
- Readers will decide the winner via a poll.
- Have fun!
Okay, I think that stressing over finals is just dramatic; if you study and do your work, you’ll know what you are doing. So instead of procrastinating you should be confident in your tests, or projects. Don’t get me wrong, I used to always freak out and stress over my finals, but when I realized that all it took was for me to calm down, study, and do my work.. It always went well.
You make a great point, but for a lot of students – myself included – finals bring more stress due to high expectations. As I’ve moved through high school, it’s slowly but surely gotten harder for me to maintain my good grades. Scoring well on finals is a huge part of keeping those grades satisfactory because they’re weighted at about 10% of the overall class grade.
I understand what you’re saying, and while I agree on our finals being pretty impactful, I still don’t think they are worth stressing over. I myself have had my fair share of highs and lows with class work in terms of staying motivated throughout the year, and I get that it does get harder.. but let’s think about it. If you do your work, and truly try, I can testify that before finals your grades would be at A’s and B’s and that 10% would be a piece of cake!
What about students who rely on doing well on the final to get the grade they want, or even to simply pass the class? There are some students who can study all they want, but still blank on a test. After all, some classes have recently moved towards a new model that weights the grade more heavily on assessments rather than class participation or homework.
I see your point, and I understand. I myself am one of those students who blanks on a test even after studying for hours! However, all of my teachers have offered test corrections, help, and requested me for Muskie Time when I have struggled. It’s all about time management I feel, because some students (even me sometimes) procrastinate and push things until the time comes and then they stress and don’t do well. Whenever I know I did what I needed to do, managed my time effectively, I have seen myself do well on tests, homework, and assignments. Truly I see your point, and as humans we will stress, but I don’t think it’s worth it.
This debate has ended due to a violation of Rule #4. Who do you think won? Vote for your favorite below.
See you next time on MUDSLINGER!
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