The 2017-2018 school year has been different compared to previous years. The new change has been the schedule. This year the first day of school was on August 22, 2017. The main changes from the new schedule are starting the school year earlier, having finals before winter break, and ending the school year on a Wednesday rather than a Friday.

One of the biggest changes was to have first semester finals before winter break. In previous years finals would have occurred one week after returning from winter break. I prefer to have finals before winter break. The benefits of having it this way include a stress free winter break; also, teachers will not leave us any assignments to do. I know some students might say that finals after break are better because they use the break to study. I have also told myself the same thing before, but I would never study during the break. If anything I would study the weekend before finals. Winter Break is one of the busiest times of the year. Christmas shopping, the holidays, family coming over, visiting family, etc. create a hectic time for students. There is barely, if any, time to study during those hectic two weeks. While the week before winter break is very stressful, it is worth it in the end to relax and sleep throughout the break. Also, starting school earlier is not the end of the world. Yes, we lose a few days of our summer break but those days are compensated by ending the school year earlier. We would still have a fulfilling summer break.

I remember last year after learning the new schedule I immediately complained. I thought I would dislike the new schedule. But as the end of the school year is approaching, I really like the new schedule. The school should continue this school year schedule in future years.