Exactly 365 days ago on January 12, 2015, Central students found themselves in the most dreaded week of the entire semester: finals week. Kids were coming to school early for cumulative reviews, booking rooms in the library, and cramming for finals well into the night. This year has been much less chaotic than last though, with administration deciding to hold finals before winter break this year.

“Last winter break I spent hours studying for finals and making up course work,” said Joe Dipofi, senior. “This winter break was way more chill because I wasn’t worrying about tests.”

Many upperclassmen share Dipofi’s view, that holding finals before break allowed students to be able to enjoy themselves more. However, some students felt as if material was crammed in the weeks prior to finals.

“In my Calculus class we had to leave out some concepts so that we could review for finals,” said Brett Dougherty, senior. “Now we are making those chapters up a month later and it has been a bit confusing.”

So, clearly there are mixed opinions about whether or not holding finals before break is beneficial, but most local schools, including Lyons Township, also have finals before winter break. Administration cited that research shows having finals before a break increases student emotional growth, allowing students to actually enjoy a break rather than feeling stressed to study.

While this schedule change affected sophomore-seniors the most because it was a completely new schedule, freshmen experienced this model for the first time.

“I think having finals before winter break is a good idea,” said Connor Dressler, freshman. “My mom would have made me study over break and not let me go out as much if we had finals after.”

Overall, the student body seems to agree that having finals before winter break is the right move. Even Dougherty, despite his frustrations in his calculus class, admitted that, “Being able to enjoy my winter break was definitely worth being a little confused in the first few weeks of class.”