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TRANSCRIPT:

NOELE: Welcome to the “Finals: Post Pandemic” podcast, with Lauren Johnson and Noele Lehnhoff. In this podcast, we will be interviewing several different students from different classes and grade levels. We’ll be asking them questions regarding their feelings towards this year’s upcoming finals. With everything that has happened this year, and everything we’ve gone through in the past few years with absent or non-mandatory finals, it’s understandable that everyone would be a little on edge for finals this year. Hopefully, by listening to some of these accounts, you can feel relieved that some students feel the same way you do. Our first interview is with sophomore Lillian Barley.

LAUREN: Okay, welcome to the podcast. I’ll start off by asking you about the survey we sent out. You answered that you are mostly in advanced classes, correct?

LILLIAN: Yeah.

LAUREN: Okay. How do you feel about your finals that are coming up for those classes?

LILLIAN: I’m mostly somewhat stressed about them. I heard that they don’t really affect your grade too much, so there’s that attribute, but then there’s also like, yeah I want to get a better grade on it, but it’s not as much stress as I normally would, like last year, you know?

LAUREN: You also stated in the survey that you feel as though you are going to do poorly on the finals, even though your grades are fairly high. Can elaborate on that?

LILLIAN: Well, with grades, there’s like- I’ve built them up after a while, like they were low for a minute, but then after a while I kind of like, realized what I needed to do and got to finish, like this big stuff that I can’t remember from the beginning of the semester, I know I’m going to do very poorly on than the more recent things.

LAUREN: Alright, do you have any advice for people who are about to take the finals?

LILLIAN: Mostly don’t stress, like with testing I stress on so much I freak myself out, and then I do really bad on them. And you know, bring a snack, because half the time I have to eat during a test.

LAUREN: Alright, thank you so much for being a part of our podcast. Our next guest is freshman Annabelle Crosson

NOELE: Welcome to the podcast. So, in the survey we sent out, you answered that you are mainly in average level classes at the moment right?

ANNABELLE: Yes.

NOELE: Okay, and how do you feel about finals this semester?

ANNABELLE: I feel like I’m not very prepared. First off it’s been a really really weird year.

NOELE: Yeah, definitely.

ANNABELLE: Going from hybrid to virtual, then all in person, it’s just been harder to get help.

NOELE: Right.

ANNABELLE: When you necessarily need it, so I just feel like I might not do the best this year.

NOELE: Yeah, I think that’s how everyone feels. So you explained a bit in the survey we sent out that you were worried about not being prepared. Can you explain that just a little bit more, just elaborate?

ANNABELLE: I honestly feel like, for me, because my parents have really high expectations, they expect A’s and B’s, so for me that’s just first off a lot of pressure that you put on yourself, because of your parents expecting better from you.

NOELE: Right

ANNABELLE: And second off some of these teachers give you the study hall and just leave you to do it, or they put you in groups, but the people in your groups don’t really care. So then you have the pressure of them wanting you to do the work, on top of all the pressure from your parents. So I’m just struggling half the time, because half the teachers I have honestly could care less, and then half the teachers care too much. So it’s like a whole “don’t really know what to do about it”, because there’s so much pressure from some teachers, and then not enough from others.

NOELE: Right, very true, very relatable. Just to finish it off, do you have any advice to give people who are also worried about finals?

ANNABELLE: Honestly, I would just say: make sure you have enough water, make sure that you eat a good breakfast, and you stay focused. Or, if you’re stuck on a question, skip it, and then go back to it instead of spending so much time on it, to where you’re not able to finish the test. If you don’t finish the test, it’s going to dock more points then it could if you just skip the question. So just stay focused. If you need help beforehand, ask for help beforehand, and just make sure you drink and eat enough that day.

NOELE: Right, good advice. Alright, thank you for joining us today, and our next guest will be a junior named Jaden Walls.

LAUREN: Alright Jaden, welcome to the podcast. I’m going to start off by asking you a question regarding the survey we sent out. You stated that you mainly have average level classes this year right?

JADEN: Yes.

LAUREN: What are your feelings towards this semester’s upcoming finals?

JADEN:  It’s a lot of pressure. It’s not too bad, but it’s a lot of pressure as a junior, because you know, you have these classes that you have to take, you don’t know if you’re going to do good or bad, and so you’re like, is it hard? Is it going to be okay? And now that they changed it to, “if you get a bad grade on the final, it won’t bring your grade down under 60%”, so if you’re passing the class, then you’ll still get a good grade on it.

LAUREN: Yeah. Going back to the survey, you seemed very confident in these finals according to your responses. Can you tell us a little more about that?

JADEN: Oh yeah, so I’m going to take the finals, I’m going to study, you know, very hard, because my family always taught me to never quit doing something, and so I’m going to always do something challenging for myself, I’m going to study really hard so that I can boost my grades up at the end of the school year, that can help me.

LAUREN: Alright, do you have any final thoughts or advice to give to struggling students?

JADEN: Yes. Study very hard, stop procrastinating, as high schoolers we procrastinate, and we always push assignments and things to the side, but we never get things done, and so if you have an assignment, if you have a study guide, so it immediately, put reminders on your phone, you know, in your calendar and tell yourself, “hey, I’ve got to do this”. So you know, just finish it, and finish strong.

LAUREN: Alright, thank you very much for joining us today. Our final guest today is going to be freshman Brooklyn Johnston.

NOELE: Welcome to our podcast. We sent out a survey earlier this week, and in it you explained how you were mostly in average classes. Is that correct?

BROOKLYN: Yeah.

NOELE: Okay, so how do you feel about finals next week?

BROOKLYN: I’m a little nervous, just because a lot of the teachers are just kind of like, “make or break your grade”,and they’re not being to helpful in any way, but I also respect it, because I know this year’s been crazy, and they haven’t gotten a chance to really pressure us to kind of like, show what we know this year.

NOELE: Right. You also stated in your survey that you felt nervous due to the fact that your teachers kept pressuring you, like you just stated. Would you like to just go a little more in depth. Like, what kind of teachers have been pressuring you?

BROOKLYN: Just some of my classes- I mean I won’t say the teachers obviously, it’s not their fault- but just classes that are already such a struggle for me, like it’s frustrating when they don’t really give you much of a chance to prove yourself, without like, failing the class, and so when you have a 70% or an 80%, it’s still pressurizing, because maybe you fail the test, and it’s like you could have done way better.

NOELE: Right, exactly. So, one more question. Do you want to give any advice or tips to students who might also be struggling?

BROOKLYN: Just don’t procrastinate. A lot of students seem to procrastinate, and I do the same, and when you do that it really- it doesn’t help you, and in the end you feel like you could have done better, and you know you could have.

NOELE: That’s good advice. Alright, thank you so much for joining us today.

LAUREN: This concludes our “Finals: Post Pandemic” podcast. Thanks so much for listening, and remember; whether you’re teetering between letter grades or sitting securely in a 98%, remember to not worry too much about finals. All you can do is do your best. Good luck, and remember, take care of yourself first, study in healthy amounts, and have faith in your knowledge.