Midterms have dawned on us again. The finale of the second quarter– and, the first semester– comes with a two hour assessment. For some, this either brings a grade boost or presents a half day break, but for others it is a burden of dredging up long-forgotten material for a stressful week. We have reached the halfway point in the school year, and now it is time to test what we know.

While semester classes are taking their finals, midterms mark the halfway point in the material for year-long courses. This can pose some challenges to students, though. The whirlwind of everyday life combined with the extra weights of the end of the semester and studying can be difficult to manage. “With all the other homework and projects and all my extracurriculars, I don’t have much time to study the week before,” said Erin Moynihan ‘19. A survey taken by HB students shows that 55% of students do study the week before, but this does point to a divide in the student body’s approach to these exams.

Seniors faced their fourth and final midterms, and as such, are fairly well acquainted with the structure of these exams. “[I’m] definitely going to judge how difficult each midterm will be, and I will study accordingly,” said Matt Dowling ‘18. With most seniors needing to send their mid-year reports to prospective colleges, it can be extremely important for these students to be on their A-game.

Lacking the same experience, freshmen, who may have tasted only a few large-scale assessments in middle school, will either put their midterm woes to rest or prove them to be a worrisome ordeal during the week. “Some of the teachers say it’s really important, but others say it won’t affect my final grade too much,” said Justin Surette ‘21.

Interestingly enough, much of the student body had a full or almost full week of tests. 44% of students will take six midterms, and 39% will take a full seven. In a similar vein, the plurality of students are most dreading their science midterm, and math taking second place with almost half as much worried students.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 75% of students at HB would not take midterms if given the choice. Only 8% of students seem to enjoy, or want the benefits of, midterms. Even still, everyone will be taking at least one, and some attack the week with stress and fear, while others treat it like any other school day.

“I plan on studying from 2:40 to 8:00 [p.m.]. Then I’m gonna sleep until 7 [a.m.] the next morning,” said Jack Aldana-Proulx ‘18 going into the week. “Just another day.”

Midterm grades are now finalized, so be sure to check Powerschool.