Finals. The one word that has the power to bring students’ stress levels up and grades spiraling down.

After enduring a semester of countless assignments and due dates, students are forced to sit down once more and take a test that has the potential to undo it all. A single exam has the final say in the outcome of each student’s hard work, time and dedication put into the school year.

The week prior to finals is commonly referred to as “dead week,” due to the large amount of studying and stress that revolves around the dwindling time before the approaching tests. In last-minute desperation, many students resort to pulling all-nighters to cram months of learning into the span of a week.

According to the American Psychological Association, students placed under pressure have shown a sharp increase in drug abuse, sleep deprivation and other negative effects due to the large accumulation of stress.

Although finals do have some drawbacks, they also have some benefits. Finals help motivate students to relearn the curriculum. They offer students a last opportunity to increase their grades. Without finals, students would be given their final grades and wouldn’t have any way to change them.

Even with that possibility, not every student is a natural-born test-taker. Many students suffer from the crippling effects of test anxiety and underperform when placed under pressure. Offering one test with the capability to alter their grade is placing a significant number of students at a disadvantage.

A possible alternative to having a single menacing test is having a series of small exams that add up to the percentage of one final. If teachers eliminate giving one test, students will feel less pressured and have more of a chance to raise their grades.

Teachers could lower the stress of finals by giving them to students on different weeks. Having a single week for finals is taxing on students and doesn’t give them enough time to prepare for their upcoming exams in other classes.

Finals have an important role in the life of a high school student but need some revision. One test can’t possibly capture each student’s progress throughout the year, so it isn’t fair to treat it that way.