Winter break should be about enjoying the holiday spirit.  Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. I mean a break is a break for a reason right? When we are worried about midterms we seem to forget about true holiday spirit that comes along with all these winter festivities.

The first semester is stressful enough; all students definitely deserve two weeks off after the intense first five months of school. A vacation gives us that extremely needed time off of school to just relax and get ready for the second half of the year. This time off of school also lets us hang out with our friends and family without a care in the world about what is due Monday.

If midterms were before the break everyone could just relax during their vacation, but because we have midterms after the break, we have no mental relief from our studies.

Palmetto having midterms after winter break also prevents students from traveling at their leisure. Parents and students worry about the time taken away from studying, while they are on vacation skiing or going to the tropics. The truth is, no student will be able to concentrate on studying for hours when they are in new, exciting places.

Panthers also seem to lose some of the information learnt in the semester. If students do not study daily they will forget some of the essential information that will be on the midterm. The stress of studying defeats the whole purpose of getting this break.

Do not get me wrong, studying for midterms and finals is part of high school, but the timing is horrible. Instead of finishing an already intense semester with a midterm, we are forced to carry that anxiety into our so-called “break.” This leaves Panthers stuck at home studying when they should be enjoying their time off and relaxing.

On the other hand, some students decide not to even look at their textbook. So while their textbooks and notes are collecting dust, they are losing some of the information they learnt over the first half of the school year.

Other local high schools, like Coral Reef, get to take their midterms before their vacation, so why can’t we do the same? Other schools seem to see the advantage of taking midterms before winter break, but that is not the case at Palmetto. If we had midterms before vacation, we would truly get that time off we need.

But things are not going to change this year, so do take advantage of the break and take the time to study for your midterms. So in between family gatherings or opening gifts try to squeeze in some time for your midterm studying as well.