On January 13th, 17th, and 18th, students in freshman, sophomore, and junior year took the midterm exams for the very first time. Over the past three years, COVID-19 has impacted the experiences of high school students in so many ways. One way school was different at MT was the absence of large tests like the midterms. Going into the school year this past fall, everything seemed as if it was becoming normal again. But even with the return of dances, sporting events and clubs, less exciting aspects of high school also made their return, including midterm and final exams.

     Midterm exams are used to measure a student’s understanding of core subjects and concepts they have learned so far throughout the school year. In previous years midterm scores were worth 10% of a student’s overall semester grade. This year, that percentage has been lowered to 2.5%. So when report cards come out, there will be four separate columns. Two of the columns will be individual marking period grades, one will be the student’s midterm score, and then the fourth column will be the total semester grade, including the 2.5% that the midterm is worth. So in the grand scheme of things, midterms do not have much effect on grades. The presence of the midterms does, however, prepare students for what it is like to take midterm and final exams in college. Now that midterms are over, students who took them for the first time can reflect on what their biggest takeaways were.

     One of the largest challenges that students had to overcome was the 90 minute time limit for each midterm exam. Freshman Lauren Weeks reflected on how she felt about this aspect of the exams: “I felt like I was not quite able to prove myself and what I had really learned throughout the semester because I was rushing to finish before the time ran out.” Students in freshman year especially do not have a lot of experience with such short testing periods. This lack of experience leads to many students feeling like the amount of questions on the tests was simply too many to process in the amount of time given. 

     A second common reflection of the midterm exams this year was the feeling of being unprepared. Since midterms had been absent for so long, students may have had trouble studying and preparing for a test so foreign to anything they had taken before. Sophomore Kayla Marino spoke about how her lack of preparation affected her during the test: “I think that midterms were handled well by teachers, but because we did not take them last year, I felt like I did not know how to study such a broad range of material, even with all the reviews.” For students who were in high school when midterms and finals were absent, the transition to taking these tests may be just as stressful as it was for the new freshmen. Overall, preparing for midterm tests was more difficult than usual, simply because students are inexperienced and do not know what to expect. As years go on, students will become more knowledgeable about how to study for these exams, and stress about the midterms may decrease.

     While students may have felt anxious about taking their first midterms, the school created  ways to provide support and receive extra help during this stressful time. Midterm Madness was held as a way for freshmen to meet with other students and teachers to go over different subjects and material. Student council also created a way to support students and ease stress levels by booking sessions with therapy animals in between exams. This gave students stress relief and a boost of energy even while in the midst of exams.