They fester in the back of our minds during all of winter break.  They are what teachers allude to incessantly during the first and second quarter of the school year.  They require hours of studying and preparation.  They are all an hour and a half long.  They encompass four months of hard (or maybe not so hard) work.  They are mentally, physically, and emotionally draining and demanding.  They count for 9 percent of our final grade.  They are (insert expression of sheer terror here) midterms!
But are midterms really as frightening as they seem?  After all, we do get a week of half days, some of which we are not even required to attend if we don’t have a scheduled midterm.  We have no other homework besides studying for tests on material we have already learned, and we usually have a work-free weekend following our completion of midterm week.  Above all, our performance on these “all important” exams only matters to a certain extent, in that our grades on them do not matter as long as we don’t score more than one letter grade worse than what we want our final grades to be.  For example, if your goal is to earn a B in math for the year, as long as you score an A, B, or C on the midterm, your chances of getting that B will not be much different.  Let’s say you get a C on your midterm (9% of your final grade), but a grade of an A or B on your final (11% of your final grade).  These two grades will simply average out to make a B for a quarter grade (20% of your final grade).  (Note: This is not an excuse for you not to study for midterms, especially as this rule will not apply next year with the new grading system).
As I am sure many of you already know, midterms worked a little differently this year.  In past years, midterms started on a Tuesday with everyone’s first and second set classes and proceeded in numerical order throughout the rest of the week, with (at most) two midterms every day.  They were held in the classrooms in which the classes were taught daily, with the teacher of the course present to answer any questions students might have.  This format seemed simple, logical, and convenient, but unfortunately was too susceptible to cheating and unfair play.  Students that had  a teacher sixth period could ask his first period class for answers to the midterm, not to mention the fact that some students would have two additional days to study for it.  So, it only seemed fair to administration that all midterms for each subject area should be held at the same time.  Questions arose such as these: “What if I take three science classes?” “Where will I go to take my exam?” “How will I survive if my teacher is not there to proctor it?”  The immediate unanimous opposition to the new midterm schedule was astounding!
I carried out an unofficial survey just to get a general sense of how the student body felt about the new schedule in retrospect.  Of the thirty sophomores, juniors, and seniors that I interviewed (no freshman were included as they never experienced the old midterms), twenty-six said that they were opposed to the new schedule before midterms were carried out.  However, their sentiment changed drastically after midterms week, and twenty-two out of the twenty-six naysayers changed their minds.  Harriton senior Sinem Sakarcan said, “I like it better this way because it makes it fair for everyone, and I was done my midterms by Thursday.”  However, not everyone was so enthusiastic.  Sophomore Lauren Johnson had the following to say: “The new schedule still seems kind of illogical to me, and it does not let me ask all of the questions that I want to during the exam.”  As usual, there are some people that are downright indifferent.  Junior Adam Laplant believes that “Midterms this year were definitely different.  I did not really like not being able to have a free period in my midterm schedule here and there, but it was a great relief to have the Friday of that week free.  Overall, I would say that this schedule is not any better or worse than the old one.”
This year was definitely a year of change for the Harriton community, the new midterm schedule just being one of the many recent additions.  While people might have had their concerns about the new schedule at first, most adapted quickly and even came to like this schedule better than the old one.  Truthfully, it was not terribly difficult to locate the exam rooms, reschedule a test, or manage until a teacher came by to answer a question.  Whatever your opinion on the schedule may be, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, as midterms are over for the year.  Don’t get too comfortable though: we have finals to look forward to in just a few short months.