Panic fills the mind, schedules become hectic and students impatiently count down the remaining days before Christmas break.

With only a few days left, the entire student body crams in as much studying as possible in order to save their grades from the imminent drop the many tests may cause.

Though the general reason for finals remains as a constant dispute between teaching staff and students, many feel that a final test on any certain subject is only capable of lowering grades rather than raising them.

“You try to cram everything that you learned throughout an entire semester into one test that is capable of devasting your grades,” Megan Alcorn, ’07 said. “It’s really hard to find the time to review absolutely everything.”

Some students disagree with the regular class period schedule during the week of finals.

“I don’t mind taking the finals as long as the periods are long enough to complete the required work,” Sarah Bonnar, ’07, said. “In general, I prefer the schedule used last year during finals week because I didn’t feel rushed to finish any tests.”

Although students may often dislike tests, according to teachers they remain a necessary part of the educational progress.

“I use finals to give students a chance to show me that they have learned the material I’ve been teaching over the semester,” Molly Sargent, English teacher, said. ” If a student receives a sixty-five percent on a final, they have shown me that they are capable of passing and therefore pass the class.”

To a student’s dismay, finals will continue to haunt them the last week of every semester and, though some may dislike the challenging tests, most find it as a vivid reminder that Christmas is just around the corner.