UConn students gear-up for final exams 

As the academic year ends, many students have begun to envision leisurely summer days full of sun just around the corner. One roadblock, however, remains in the path of their daydreams becoming a reality: final exams. 

To the dread of students and professors alike, the tests that could make or break one’s GPA officially commence next Monday. A quick glance at campus social media platforms reveals the rollercoaster of emotions many students are feeling as they wait for the end of next week.  

The UConn YikYak is vibrant with posts regarding final exams, with recurrent words such as, “tired,” “hatred” and “locked-in,” painting a telling narrative of exam season’s many ups and downs. 

“I’m cooked,” said sixth-semester chemistry major Noah Lerner. “None of my classes have study guides, and I have to work on lab reports alongside studying for all of my written exams, most of which are at 8 a.m. Y’know, it’s finals.” 

For students like Lerner, who cited MATH 3160 as well as CHEM 3214 and 3215 as particular thorns, the balance between exam preparation and difficult coursework is often stress inducing. 

“As a Digital Media and Design major, shooting short films has taken up much of my time,” said second semester student Antoine Chisholm. “As a director of photography, I have to manage the camera, write the screenplay and fill in the roles that need to be filled in. The time commitment for film shoots is a minimum of four hours, which gets bothersome when you have other finals.” 

In maintaining a reasonably low stress level, some students have emphasized the importance of taking breaks. 

“If I’m studying or doing homework, I’ll take a break, go on a walk or to the dining hall, just to not stare at a screen for hours,” said second-semester pharmacy major David Kausyla. 

“I also have a tendency to not study enough, but at the end of the day, I know I’ll get it done. I don’t stress too much,” continued Kausyla. 

Beyond the criticisms of exams placing undue stress on students, some academics have critiqued the efficacy of cumulative tests in facilitating deeper understandings of course content. 

“Class sizes are getting larger and larger, and for many instructors, to physically be able to grade everything you just have to go to maybe the more uncreative options,” said Ph.D. student and political theory instructor Lily Luo, who conveyed apprehension towards the conventions of multiple-choice exams. “I think that when students are able to express their own interests and creativity, they’re more invested in their education.” 

Although discussions surrounding why or how exams should be implemented continue, the reality is that finals are here, for now, to stay. 

Speaking for much of the student body, second-semester physics major Erin Watt summarized her feelings with one brief comment, “Man, finals really suck.”