Final exemptions are an end of the year privilege handed out to hardworking, dedicated students. These same students still have to push through 5 other classes at the end of the year. Don’t you think they deserve some reward for their efforts? That is why I believe that even though finals are important to show progress and are a privilege to only the hardest workers, students with up to a 85% average should be able to exempt all finals.

Over the course of the year, students have been working long and hard to make sure they have good enough grades to exempt their finals. Last year, students were unable to exempt because of the regulation of grade levels exempting tests. Now that the rules have changed, we are told that we can only exempt 3 finals. How is this fair after we have pushed ourselves to the breaking point making sure that we would keep up these grades?

“I don’t think that they (administrators) realize how hard we work in all classes, not just three,” Giuliana Tovar said. 

Students who’ve put their best foot forward and maintained beautiful averages should be able to take a deep breath and relax after this long and stressful school year. The pressure faced by students to pass these tests is coming to a critical climax while students prepare for these finals.

“I feel that we should at least have the option to exempt 4 exams because of our 4 required core classes. It is very stressful to have to prepare for 7 different exams under the haunting knowledge of the weight of each test. A semester exam can literally determine if I go on to the next grade and it’s not something I can take lightly. I want to exempt as many as I can to ensure my success,” said Alyssa Gonzalez. 

On the other hand, finals are important to show the growth and overall comprehension of the course throughout the school year. It is vital that students get the help they deserve if they are struggling in that subject.

“Even though all of my students are so hard working, it is so helpful to see how students progress. It helps me know what I need to work harder on next year to teach all of the TEKS  to my kids,” one sophomore teacher said.

Honestly, though, the students who are doing good and are maintaining a good average don’t need extra help (obviously) because we can see through their grades they understand the material in the TEKS. An 85% average or higher means they understand at least 85% of the material, showing that if all their classes have that certain grade, then they should be able to exempt more than three finals.