No one likes finals. Even super-duper overachievers like myself despise them. And while you may hate them for your own reasons, the reason for my own abhorrence of the dreadful exams is probably different.

To me, a true final exam says, “Hey, screw all the hard work you’ve put in throughout the semester. It all comes down to this one test. Now get to the library and cram!” And by a “true” final exam, I mean one that is cumulative (it includes everything, especially what you don’t remember learning back in September), counts for about 20 percent of your grade and makes your brain hurt just enough to make you cry. It’s this kind of final I wish would be wiped off the face of the planet — or at least removed from all my classes’ syllabi.

Hard work should always be rewarded, or it should at least pay off somehow. And when final exams have such a strong influence on students’ final grades, that payoff never comes. Students who worked hard all semester — attending every class, turning in their assignments on time — are rewarded with the chance to let all that effort go to waste by botching one measly test. On the other hand, students who have scraped by throughout the term — skipping class, turning in assignments late (if ever) — are rewarded with the chance to redeem themselves entirely at the last minute. This seems to send the message that you can either waste your time by working diligently for an entire semester only to fail the final (and the class), or you can slack off the whole time and let your last-minute all-night cram session before the final determine your grade. Seems like a twisted predicament, right?

Teachers who administer these “true” final exams are letting down their students. By placing so much emphasis on these tests, educators indirectly discourage students from actively participating in the learning process. If all that matters is the final, students might as well sleep through class and teach themselves.

What should happen is, if students have an A in a class (the result of a semester’s worth of productive drudgery) before the scheduled final exam, they should be able to claim that A and opt out of taking the final. This way, hard work is rewarded, struggling students still get that one last chance to yank themselves up to success, and teachers still have a means of measuring just how much knowledge students have retained.

But I suppose it’s a little late for such brilliant remedies, at least for this semester. With reading week wrapping up and finals week looming menacingly around the corner, maybe all we can do is study.

Better luck next term?