As the third marking period approaches, students of HHS are anxiously waiting for their report cards, including their midterm grades.

The season of marathon study sessions, trips to the library, and endless testing may be coming to a close, but the stress is still not over for many. Not only are classes starting right back up again, but the stress of waiting for teachers to grade midterm exams becomes all consuming.

While it’s undeniable that midterms are important, it’s vital to remember that they will not be life changing. For juniors and seniors, college acceptances are looming in the very near future, and it may seem like midterms can make or break these decisions. However, this is not the case.

Midterms factor into your final grade for a class, but they are only counted for half as much as a marking period average. This means that if you keep up your grades for the rest of the school year, your midterm grades won’t seem as devestating.

Even if midterms do end up bringing down the final grade for a class, it’s only in the context for one year. Most high school students take about 20 midterms throughout high school, so doing sub par on one midterm throughout four years of high school is not going to cause that much harm.

A college is not going to deny a student solely based on one high school test.
Years from now, no one is going to look back and think that they should have done better on their high school midterms. Take a deep breath and continue to work hard for the remainder of the school year, and your midterms will seem far less important.