In January 2022 McQuaid Jesuit students will come in for a week of midterm exams. This is the first time McQuaid will have semester exams since the pandemic hit. 

After two years of not having any midterm or final exams, there is anxiety around whether students will be ready for them again.  Along with that, some question the necessity of these exams.

Many students worry that they and their classmates will not be prepared for these exams after such a long break. 

“I feel midterms will be hard for many students this year since we have not had a big test like midterms since 2020, and many students don’t know what to expect,” said McQuaid junior Stephen Vitello. 

There is definitely a lot of anxiety around the school about the upcoming exams.  Many students feel they are not ready to do them again. McQuaid math teacher Mr. Mathew Rybak said, “There are a lot of mental and emotional problems that midterms can have on students, and we understand and know those are realistic things.” 

There are also many who defend midterms as a necessary thing that will prepare students for life after high school.

“I think midterms can be beneficial because it is a clear division between semesters, and it is a good recap of what you learned in the last two quarters,” said McQuaid junior Dylan Stagles-Reyome.

Many teachers also feel that it is time for midterms to return.

“I feel midterms are a good thing to have,” Mr. Rybak said. “Even though there is a lot of anxiety associated with that, midterms are going to be huge in college, and the idea of big, significant exams are something that is not going to go away. I feel that we would not be doing our job to prepare students for college if we did not give students an idea of what midterms are like.”

Even if there is a benefit to midterms, it does not disregard the fact that there are many students who have come to McQuaid within the past two years who have never taken a midterm or any large exam like that before. This leads to considerable anxiety and stress among those students. Science teacher Mrs. Lisa Soprano said stressed the importance of helping students prepare for semester exams.

“It is crucial that teachers are supportive, and do practice tests or have very detailed study guides so kids have a better idea of what they will be doing,” Mrs. Soprano said.