NC has not had true final exams in nearly two years. This year, the administration announced their return.

Last school year, because of virtual school and COVID-19,  administration decided to have no-fault finals. No-fault finals meant that whatever grade you get on the final can only help your grade. Since finals were no fault, they became optional to students who were satisfied with their grades. 

This was very popular among the students. Taking finals over everything you have learned over the past 5 months is hard. 

Most people, including myself, believe that it is challenging, if not impossible, to learn and succeed through a virtual environment. So the added stress of finals would have been a burden. 

It was a lot less stressful for me, and I enjoyed my last days of the semester. I did not have to worry about my grade dropping if I did not do well on the final, I just had to try my best in hopes of bringing up my grade. 

I struggled during virtual learning, and I was sure that I would have performed very poorly if I were to participate in finals regularly. 

Optional finals allowed me to focus my study on the classes I needed to boost my grade in. 

During regular finals, I would have to study and work on all my classes, even those in which I have good grades. 

` On the contrary, math teacher Mathew Riley, disagrees and strongly disliked the no-fault finals. 

“There is no point in even having the final, this allows students who have cheated all year to pass and get by with a good grade,” Riley said.

It is not fair for a student who was cheating to get just as good, if not even better, grades than an honest student who did not cheat. Finals were a way to show what students learned over the semester. 

Because no-fault finals are not in place anymore, student competition between those who learned versus those who cheated through the class became apparent and a final equalizer—a hurdle many students who cheated would have a tough time getting over. 

This may not be a big deal to some, especially sophomores and freshmen, but this could determine their future education to students competing for college. 

Competition is fair and even with the return of regular finals. 

Since we are all in person, I  do not have a problem with the return of regular finals. This year, I am learning and understanding material. Now that I am at the age of looking for colleges, I want regular final exams to gain good testing experience for college. 

No-fault finals certainly have their advantages. It was much less stressful, time-consuming, and I could prioritize certain classes. However, I do think regular finals are more practical and overall better for one’s education. It gives you more testing experience, which will help when taking college exams. It also makes the class competition even, and it honestly assesses what students learn.