Freshmen get their first taste of high school finals

Student reading the textbook

Lucca Wright

Lucca Wright, Staff Writer

The freshman took their first high school finals this winter season. 

Many of them found them stress inducing and exhausting, some never experienced a final before. 

“The finals were so hard I didn’t get any sleep, I was not ready at all,” freshman Chris Blakely said.  “I did not prepare as much as I should have and I felt like I could not do anything, which I regret.”

The freshman saw the finals as just another difficult challenge. 

“My finals were very stressful, it felt like the longest week of my life and gave me so much burden,” freshman Nathan Alfaro said. “My math final was definitely the hardest and by far the worst, I was not expecting it to be that hard and was very surprised when I opened my math sheet and saw those problems.”

Some saw it as just another test, while others believed the grade letters they saw on their final report card as a result of the finals would greatly damage them.

The low expectations of the freshman set up their exam experience.

“I thought it was going to be the hardest thing in the world, but at the end of the day it was very easy,” freshman Ricardo Treto said. “I was not ready for the finals going in, but they were not as hard as I expected them to be, I was expecting them to be so much worse.”

Some saw the finals as easy, but for others, it was challenging.

“I felt like I walked into the finals with 100 percent effort, and knew my outcome would be 101 percent,” freshman Zachary Parker said.

Some freshmen utilized the idea of approaching finals with a good mindset and attitude, as well as with confidence, to ace their first finals.

“I did not anticipate the finals to be hard going in. I walked in there with an open mind and I said anything you believe in, just do it and put your mind to it and nothing is impossible,” freshman Gabriel Hernandez said. “You either can or can, which is what motivated me.”

By studying hard and preparing well, it reflected their work in their grades, many achieving honor roll.  

“My first finals were so easy, I was very happy with my outcome when I opened my report card,” freshman Elias Faanunu said. “I was so confident that I just aced it, I knew going in that it would be very challenging, but I moved past that and did not let that stop me from securing good scores.”

Every freshman experienced different thoughts and feelings towards their winter finals. All freshmen can decide their outcome based on the choices they make leading up to exam week.

These first finals, a rude awakening for some members of the Class of 2026, are the start of the next four years of exams that they will take at Bishop Amat.