Over the course of two days, students of Central shuffle into the building; some taking it easy, some regretful of taking the course or regretful of failing to prepare, and some utterly frightened. Whatever the state of mind when entering the school, every student feels relieved when leaving. However, this term, students will not leave after a half day, but after an entire day of school.

Is having two full days of school entirely necessary? Exams are proctored for blocks one and two, then regular classes for blocks three and four resume for the rest of the day. On the second day, students take two exams for blocks three and four and then go to blocks one and two for regular classes.  Perhaps extra classes (blocks three and four) on the first day of exams could provide time for reviewing material for those exams the next day, on the other hand, the classes after the second exam day are rendered useless for studying or being productive. Most students would prefer to have the rest of the day off after being bombarded with exams.

Allowing more days off equates into an extended school year into summer and it may seem as though one is looking at the immediate satisfaction gained when preferring a half day over a full day. However, in a term with very little breaks, rest from a scrambled brain and physical exhaustion (even in the form of two half days) may be more valuable than shortening summer vacation, where time to rest is abundant.

With “all of the cold days” Central has granted, many students have most likely experienced some feelings of injustice. Following up on this with full day exams does not seem like the most diplomatic course of action to take either. Students deserve rebound time to relax mentally and physically in order to prepare for the both the next round of exams and the upcoming term.