With the end of the school year quickly approaching, many students are locking in, in hopes of raising their end-of-year and final grades. However, this trend seemingly does not apply to seniors. As college acceptances roll in, many are struggling to find the motivation to continue working as hard in school. While some are looking forward to being able to say that they’ve taken their last AP/IB test, many dread having to go into these exams with seemingly little payoff. 

While these exams are a cause of stress for many, seniors are more stressed about making the time to prepare for the test than actually taking the tests. For many, finding the proper motivation is a seemingly impossible task as graduation and the promise of being done with high school comes closer. Although the challenge of properly studying is a real thing, many IB and AP students have fought very hard to work through that challenge to get the grades they have worked for all year. While the studying done may overall be less than what has been achieved in previous years, some studying is still better than nothing. For senior Carter Schaaf, this is especially true. He is in the AP Language and Composition class and, to prepare for his upcoming exam, has been going over his old work and studying current events to have important context while writing. However, he has noticed that he is definitely putting in less effort to study than years prior. “I’m just not as stressed for it, so while I want a good grade, it is not the same motivation,” he said.

  Even though no one looks forward to finals, for seniors these are a glimmer in the distance of their long-awaited high school graduation. The sense of accomplishment they will feel after their last final for all of high school is complete will be truly immeasurable. Additionally, many are grateful to feel less stressed about college around the corner as AP and IB tests help to prepare for the notorious college finals. Beau Drummond, an IB senior, recognizes this. They have been working hard to prepare for exams and are doing anything to find the motivation to do well, including a reward system in which they allow themself to play a game after a certain amount of studying. All of this ensures that they are prepared for college and the workload that comes with it. Drummond said, “I am pretty burnt out, but I still want to do well. It’s still the IB finals after all.”

The end of the year is a tiring time for anyone, but especially for these seniors who must continue to push through the end-of-year burnout. While AP and IB students may have to work harder than their peers, it will all be worth it when they are in college and have previous practice from high school in their final exams.