By Liv Whitlock

With the closing of the school year now encroaching closer day by day, AP exams and finals are getting closer, too. It’s time for students to “lock in” and get it done in the final push of the school year. 

Close to exam time there is always that heated debate, “Do exams even really matter?” considering all of the ways a student can be successful in real world applications. 

Generally, the consensus among the teachers at Bellbrook High School is this: exams are important in the realm of general learning and retention, but there can be alternate ways to assess learning. 

“I think there could be alternate ways to assess learning as the students are tested so much and stress is continually building,” Kristen Potter, a spanish teacher at Bellbrook High School, said. “But, on the other hand, it is vital that students understand the value of deadlines and work ethic to best prepare for the real world.” 

“Exams are a way to help measure how much students have retained over the semesters,” Jeff Sampson, a math teacher at Bellbrook high school, said.

“In an academic environment that seems to promote mimicry and short term memorization, semester exams can help determine if long term skill acquisition has been attained.”

Since the general agreement is that exams are a vital structure to the academic process, and they’re not going away any time soon, how do we, as students, best prepare for such a grueling assessment? 

“The best way to prepare for exams starts well before exam week,” Sampson said. “To ensure learning and comprehension are being attained, go through each topic during the semester. Understanding as you go makes the exam less daunting.”

“Catching up can be done, but it is a time-consuming and difficult mental challenge,” Sampson said. “Typically students who have fallen behind have done so based on a lack of desire to learn. That same lack of desire typically prevents that type of student from being able to overcome the hole that they created for themselves.”

“I do not feel a student will succeed if they did not put in the time and effort as other students who have contributed to the class and also learned the material,” Potter said. “Students must make sure they have the proper materials, notes and information to know what is being tested. They must be organized.”

“If a student does not turn in work, does poorly on tests, does not come in for help nor asks questions, I know they will not be successful,” Potter said.

Preparing for exams is a grueling, lengthy process that starts well before test day. It can be easy to get lost in the hubbub of your daily school day and lose sight of the importance of taking classes seriously. Exams aren’t a punishment, but rather an opportunity. 

“At the end of the day, it is just a test,” Potter said. “Just breathe and have confidence in yourself.”