Finals Week

Hello everyone! For those that aren't in high school or have slightly different schedules, welcome to finals week for those in Sonoma County.

I never thought that I would be taking finals over Zoom in the middle of a pandemic, but here we are. I would like to say a big thank you to most of my teachers, though, as many of my finals consist of projects and not an anxiety-ridden test. If a teacher did assign a test, they did let us know in plenty of time and have done a good job of prepping us, so I am thankful for that as well.

With finals week also comes the ending of the semester. With this comes semester grades. For seniors, this is incredibly important for whether or not we graduate or whether or not we get into that top college. I have heard from many of my teachers that this year, Montgomery is reporting extremely high levels of F's and absences from classes.

While not totally surprised (distance learning does make it harder on many to focus), I am worried about my fellow seniors, graduation, and next quarter. As next quarter doesn't get reported to colleges, I feel that many seniors will check out until graduation. (I don't blame them, I'm tired too -- but I also know that we can get through this together.) With the uncertainty of IB tests being taken/not taken as well, it becomes increasingly easy to stop caring and just do whatever the rest of the year. In addition, US schools don't place large importance on IB tests, so many students don't have to worry about their scores on that as well.

This has been an awful year, but we have gotten through it. To my peers that are considering giving up now, right before finals, I say that we are almost there. Why stop a foot before the finish line? I believe in you. You can do it.

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