Reflecting on how the year went so far, it has definitely been a crazy first couple of months. As we are diving deep into the month of December, it starts to signal a great yet stressful time. Along with wonderful holidays such as Christmas and Hanukkah, comes the end of the semester. Whilst students and their families are preparing for the holidays, they are also preparing for finals.

Being a senior, this will be my last “first” semester as well as winter break at ERHS. For the past four years, myself along with my peers have stressed and hustled trying to cram all of our studying for the semester into one night. Senior Kristina Villacorta states, “This is my last first semester finals and it’s honestly crazy to think about.” She further states, “This has been the best semester I’ve probably ever had. I think being a senior, my stress is relieved and I’m focusing more on my social life.” For many seniors, the end of the semester is an eye-opening time since we are getting closer to graduation.

For juniors, this is probably the most stressful time for them at the moment. Junior year is known as the hardest year of high school, and from experience I can definitely say that it is. I remember the end of my first semester during junior year. I was as stressed out as ever trying to get my grades in order and constantly studying.Along with juniors, sophomores are facing intense stress. This will be their second time with ending the first semester, however; it is definitely different from last year.

For freshman however, this might be an extremely stressful experience. Many freshman this year are in STEM which also is cause for stress. Freshman Kaylin Lam states, “As we are approaching finals week, I’m scared just because I’ve never experienced a high school final before.” Through the stress she also states, “I’ve been liking my first couple months at high school so far.”

Though the end of the semester might be a stressful time, it comes with much reward. From studying, to getting our grades together, to then reaching finals we end up at winter break. A time to spend with loved ones celebrating the holidays and preparing for next year.