Campbell’s halfway point means it’s exam week

The happy feeling of the school year reaching the halfway point has filled Campbell High School students, as the semester will end Friday, but it slowly goes away as the thoughts of midterms approach. Tuesday marks the start of midterm week this year, and students have been trying to get all of their studying done at the last moment. Midterms consist of everything learned in the semester, which counts 15 percent of the final grade in the class. Freshmen are worried, as most are new to the standardized testing at the high school level, while sophomores and juniors know the drill. Seniors, on the other hand, should be celebrating with a week off from school because of the amazing rule Campbell has had since it opened in 2000. If a senior has an “A” average in his or her class, then the senior is exempt from taking the final. The point of the rule is to encourage seniors to try their hardest as college approaches, and colleges are always looking for great midterm grades. Also, it gives the seniors a little reward for taking the challenging tests in their first three years. Senior Aly O’Donnell is excited about the week, as she has the full week off with no finals. On the other hand, I am out of luck with this great privilege, as I am in three Advanced Placement courses. Those classes make all students come in on exam days to take “practice AP tests”; it doesn’t matter if you  have an “A” in the class  or not. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors stress about the rule, saying it should be offered to all classes in the school. “If this opportunity was offered to all classes, then students at Campbell would perform better throughout the year because everyone hates studying and taking midterms,” junior Andrew Picard said. The midterms start on a perfect week this year, since Monday is Martin Luther King Jr.