At this moment, any senior with a 93 or above does not have to take the final for that class. Makes sense right? Well now our principal Diana Bonneville is thinking of setting up another policy. Anyone who is a junior or senior and has a 97 or higher can be exempt from the midterm or their final exam for their half year class.

When first introduced to my journalism class, there was an uproar. I am the only underclassman in my class and the rest of the students are seniors. They were unhappy because this policy would not apply to them. However, this would be enacted next year so they would not be here to experience it anyways.

One reasoning on why we should do this is because the students have shown they have mastered the subject. As an upperclassman, the classes you take are combined with juniors and seniors and even in some cases, there are sophomores in there as well. If the seniors in that class can be exempt from the midterm, why can’t the juniors? They would have the same grade as the seniors or even a better grade. It only makes sense to include them as well.

Another reason why we should have the juniors and seniors who have a 97 or above in a class be exempt from the midterm is because it pushes them to be better. Let’s be real: no one wants to take the midterms. It’s just extra stress in the middle of the school year. If you asked someone what term is the most stressful, they would most likely say it’s the second term which is right before we take the midterm. We have too much stuff going on and adding on the midterms just makes it worse.

Finally, the Juniors are getting ready to apply for college. They are going around to look at where they want to go in the future and colleges look at your junior year grades. If you have a 97 or above, it means you are excelling at that class. If the idea of not taking the midterm spreads around to all the other students, it will push them to be better. No one wants to take the midterms so if they find out they don’t have to take it, then they will push themselves to do better. Not only will they have better grades but they will also retain more. Their good grades will be shown to colleges which is also another bonus. The idea of being exempt will only make the students do better. It is only fair that the Juniors and Seniors can be exempt from the midterm if they have a 97 or above in that class.