School ends next week and we have 4 days of cumulative tests, and a field day at the end. The stress level and workload varies from student to student as the difficulty and lengthiness of a cumulative varies from teacher to teacher. Some teachers are assigning lengthy or short projects while others are assigning tests that cover half or most of the class’s curriculum. Some teachers are kind enough to give their students a break and have the class watch a movie that “relates” to the class material. Besides the fact that Loudoun County doesn’t have official Finals and Dominion is the only school in LCPS that has a substitute cumulative exam, I find it very excessive to make students who miss a class’s exam to return during the summer to make it up. For the students with the laborious exams and projects, it can be very stressful to have another week of testing after SOLs and AP Tests. It’s very medically important for your mental health to handle this stress. Here are some ways to deal with the stress:

1. Think Positive and About the Summer: Right after this last week of school, school is out and summer has started. Think about your summer plans. These may be going on vacation or hanging out with friends. Think about all the money you’ll make at your summer job. By thinking about what’s at the end can motivate you to keep going.
2. Put in That Last Bit of Effort: Tell yourself the end is in sight, and you are on the last leg of the race. Just give these last 4 days your all and do your best to either improve or maintain your grades. YOU CAN DO IT!!
3. Take A Break: During this weekend, put some time aside from your studying and project working to do something you like and have some fun. It’s important to do this for stress relief. It would make more sense to have the field day before the exams, but you can make up for that over the weekend.

Good luck to everyone with their exams !