The last few weeks of school have not been very pleasant for me to say the least. A coupe of weeks ago, I spent all of Tuesday at different doctors having my blood drawn and body examined due to a painfully swollen lymph node and my family’s worry thanks to past health experiences. I was put on three different medications, two pain killers and a muscle relaxant.
After limping my way to the pharmacy counter to pick up my medication, my pharmacist informed me of the medications’ side effects. All of these had one main side effect, drowsiness. I took the required medicine when I returned home and was out like a light.
I woke up groggily and in a numbed pain on Wednesday morning. My mother was not about to let me go to school. I was furious. Missing two days of school so early in the year made me positive that I would have to take my finals.
In the time spent writing this, I have gone through about four tissues. What’s the matter now, you ask? People with my attitude about finals. The kids, who don’t want to take their finals and are coming to school constantly sniffling, coughing, and sneezing in my vicinity, have infected me. Needless to say I am very unhappy about this.
I was determined not to take my finals this year for many reasons. Every final feels like an hour and a half I could have spent going out to eat with my friends or sleeping. Also, this is my senior year, and I would like to end my high school career with good grades in all of my classes. I have been working incredibly hard to make good grades so far this year, and all of my hard work might be a complete waste of time thanks to test anxiety or any simple mistake on ONE test in each class. This is unfair.
If I’m doing well in my classes when finals come around, why should I even need to take them? Missing about 90 minutes of class does not make me incompetent in that subject. Missing 90 minutes of a class will not fail me.
It’s getting colder out and getting to be that time of the year where everyone is sick and viruses are numerous. Many of us will suffer this fall season, and our inescapable vulnerability to illness has a good chance of forcing us into studying for some of the hardest tests in high school. These are tests that most of us wouldn’t have to take if the requirements were as fair as they should be.
Nancy Martin • Nov 26, 2013 at 4:49 pm
Agreed. Makes me batty when my daughter insists on going to school sick to avoid finals. Not only is her immune system more susceptible to catching something else in addition to what she already has, but she’s exposing everyone else to what she has. Being responsible for her health as well as the health of her classmates gets her penalized. That is jacked up.
In a similar vein, it used to make me batty when I’d see kids get “perfect attendance” awards in elementary school. It seemed to me to be more of a “Least Sick” award. No one gave my child an award for staying home when she was sick so that the child with the Perfect Attendance award wasn’t kept home for the same virus,and all while maintaining strait A’s.
Hannah Zemboy • Oct 18, 2013 at 1:35 pm
i really loved this newst story. it has so much truth to it. people come to school when they are sick and get everybody else. i cant blame them i do it too. we are all afraid of finals, they can damage our grades so badly.