As winter break approaches, and only a week remains until students are released, both staff and students are beginning to feel a school burnout.
With a little over 15 weeks of school behind us and roughly 21 to go, students are starting to put in less effort and wish to be done with the semester.
“It is making me not as motivated because I am tired and I just want it to be Christmas break and it is also really stressful because teachers try to cram a lot of things in before break and that makes me stressed and tired,” Taylor Howe said.
With this added stress from teachers attempting to get students to meet certain requirements before break comes, it creates stress and laziness within students.
While some students feel this way, others prefer to have the stress of the work before break, because then they will have no homework during their short vacation.
“I feel like the work before break makes me feel more motivated to get stuff done because I do not want to have work over break, so I am trying to get it done before we get out of school,” Miley Sund said.
Students differ in opinions on this topic, but what students tend to agree on is the dislike of having semester finals only 2 weeks after we return from break.
“I do not feel good about finals because I am not going to do any work over break, so having to come back and study a lot for finals is really stressful and hard.” Howe said. “Trying to remember things from weeks ago, before break, is also really hard.”
Many students responded similarly to this topic.
“It makes me stressed having finals so soon because now I have to study and try to remember stuff that I have not done in a while,” Sund said.
Having finals so soon after returning to school is stressful for many students because they feel unprepared for the extremely hard week.
Finals are the biggest tests high school students take, and with only two weeks to prepare and not enough time, students and teachers usually gain high levels of stress.
So what do students look forward to this time of year?
Well, with Christmas right around the corner, it makes the stress of the weeks leading up to break, and the week after, seem more bearable. This is because of the relaxation and free time students are granted for the two weeks they are out of school. These two weeks allow for time to be spent with family and friends.
“I am excited for Christmas break because I will get more sleep, and it is nice to have a lot more free time to do what you want and not have to worry about homework or school. I also think Christmas is the best holiday,” Howe said.
Another bonus about break is New Year’s. New Year’s is a fun time for teenagers, who are looking forward to a new start with the coming of the new year.
Of course students also get excited about being able to catch up on some much needed sleep.
Over the two weeks, a normal sleep schedule that a high school student follows tends to be broken by sleeping in until all hours of the day.
While some people may see this as unhealthy or unnecessary, it is always good for students to catch up on the sleep they have missed from the countless hours of homework that had been done over the past few months.
Break is a good catch-up for students looking to relax, spend more time with family, and especially spend time hanging out with friends.
“I am excited because I get to sleep in, it’s Christmas, and I get to have more time to hangout with my friends. I am also really excited for the New Year,” Sund said.
The break in between busy schedules can eliminate a bit of that infamous burnout.
