Christmas is undoubtedly the most wonderful time of the year.  Why would anyone want to soil its perfection with midterm exams?

Every year, the administration wrestles with whether to move exams to before Christmas break or to keep their usual date of two weeks after break. Luckily for students, they decided to keep exams after break. I am certain that exams would have been disastrous if they had been the week before vacation.

First of all, almost no work gets done during the final week before break.  Students will be gone for two weeks, during which time frame they tend to forget whatever they learned beforehand.  Even teachers have noticed this trend, hence the light workload the last week before break.

With Secret Santa exchanges, class parties and movie days, the week before break has an air of carelessness. Students would be unfocused and unmotivated to prepare for their exams. Santa’s coming, so who has time to study for calculus?

Having exams after break allows for almost an entire month of extra studying and classroom preparation time.  This extra time lets students readjust after Christmas break and return to their normal schedules.

In the week and a half that I have been back from break I have learned at least one new chapter or lesson in each class. Teachers need the extra time just as much as students do. I know that numerous teachers are giving or have given tests this week. Teachers, just like students can be procrastinators too. The time between break and exams lets teachers finish their semester lessons and help students review.

Having exams after break is a tradition. I know that, as a senior, I would have had difficulty acclimating to the new exam schedule if it was moved to before Christmas.  Upperclassmen are accustomed to having two weeks after break to study.  Change is good, but not all of the time.

As a proponent for tradition in this case, I am relieved that the administration has kept exams after break. Extra time during which students can actually focus makes exams in January much better than exams before Christmas.