As we are nearing the end of the first semester, we are filled with both relief and dread as we get through these last few weeks. Students are anxious to get to winter break, but some have the heavy burden of their final exam in the week they get back. While many students would like to push the test back as far as possible, having finals before the break is a better idea than it seems.

With finals before the break, students aren’t stressing about studying and are able to enjoy their time off. Who wants to worry about going over chemistry notes during Christmas? Winter break is our longest break of the school year and should be treated like summer: stress-free. Students are constantly under pressure every day for nine months, so it is too much to ask for just a couple weeks of pure rest?

Not only do finals after the holidays sacrifice our break, but they also affect our mindset afterward. When we have a big exam just a few days prior to the end of the semester, it causes unnecessary anxiety in students because of the immense pressure to perform well. On top of that, it’s nearly impossible to bring up your grade if you didn’t do as well as you wanted to with only a few days to recover after the exam. Most finals are weighted as about 15-20 percent of the overall grade, so for many students, it seems crucial to get a high mark.

While you would get a considerable chunk of time to study with the post-break final, that is not how you should be spending your time off. I think we can all agree that there is no greater relief than when you finally finish a difficult test the Friday before a break. The holidays are all about being with family, drinking eggnog, and eating latkes. Winter break should never be spent worrying about that last big test of the semester, as it completely takes away from the things we should really be focusing on.