by Ivan Anthony A. Adaro | December 15, 2021
The sweet scent of the holidays is just a week away and as our days inch closer and closer to Christmas, who wouldn’t feel excited about the upcoming Christmas vacation? If you look around you, you will notice that houses are beaming with decorations, parks dressed in festive lights, speakers busting out Holiday Tunes, and people flocking malls for last-minute shopping. Perhaps now, there are probably a million things rushing through your mind as you picture the perfect Christmas vacation.
However, there is one more hurdle that you must conquer before you can enjoy the Christmas holiday season to your liking without worrying about school work, and that is the finals week.
Even so, finals week is something that you must survive from no matter how demanding it can get. This time though, the battle is behind our screens. Still, as the clicking keyboard resonates with your fingertips, one can’t help but imagine the fun moments we would have experienced if finals week, especially at this time of the year, were done through the portals of the school.
Before the pandemic, the last week of school before the Christmas break used to be a momentous occasion for every student. Not only was it a week dedicated to complying with all school requirements and examinations before teachers close their grade books, but even better, it was jam-packed full of school activities and gimmicks related to Christmas that almost made it feel like finals week wasn’t even there at all. In fact, from the previous school calendar, it wasn’t the last week of the semester, but there were still requirements that needed to be done. Despite the loads of work that needed to be accomplished at the end of the week, students had the luxury to spend an entire day making intricate paper snowflakes, decorating classrooms with creatively crafted Christmas decors, and planning for the school Christmas parties.
Different costumes from different actors would fill up the hallways as students prepared for their role-play performances as the hand-made props each of them built are being carefully set on the stage. The sounds of printers operating would fill the silent libraries as students rushed over the lines to have their essays printed out. Most of all, the school corridors used to be a haven for all different artworks. Paintings along with other 3D Earth and cell models can be seen in every room. Art supplies and miniature houses in the making are sprawled on the classroom floors as students raced against the time — the deadline.
But still, it almost felt just like another ordinary day at school. The guards would greet any person who stepped through the gates and your classmates would jot down notes and review study guides as your group mates film non-stop because of laughter that got in the way of your lines. After finishing those works, the school cafeteria and food stalls never disappoint to fill you and your friend’s hungry stomach as each of you chatted away the stress, anxiety, and fun you had just experienced in the week.
The December afternoons spilled the gate’s tired, stressed-out students on their way to their after-school hangouts. Despite the rushing deadlines, it almost didn’t feel stressful at all because of the presence of friends around you who are also trying to just finish the week. In today’s time, these are all but imaginations that we wish we can run back to. Technology may connect us though far, it still cannot fill the void of missing someone. Finals week experienced at school will never be the same as the finals week we experience right now in the comforts of our homes.
Every student’s most stressful week is upon us again, especially with the battle raging from a screen and a camera. But fear not, for you shall surely conquer it once again. Manage your time properly as you study. And never forget to take a break. After this final stretch is an exciting reward awaiting to be cherished.
After all, the Christmas holidays are just a week away from your fingertips. The sweet reward of a school and stress-free vacation is what awaits you.
