With the second quarter and first semester of the 24-25 school year at WHS coming to an end, some people have mixed emotions. Exams are just around the corner and students may feel stressed or anxious for midterms. Co-Features editor Maddie Zajac, News Editor Marissa Mendoza and Staff Reporter Mack Young discuss with students and staff their feelings surrounding the end of the quarter.
Freshman: Izzy Irwin
What was your proudest moment this quarter so far?
“[My proudest moment this quarter was] probably when I got a 100% on one of my biology tests,” Irwin said.
Who was someone essential to helping you make it through this quarter?
“My parents, because they just really helped me with all my work and when I was struggling,” Irwin said. “They would always help me with homework. No matter how busy they were, they would help me write my essays and edit them for me. Also my friends, who I can always count on if I need help with anything.”
What is something you are afraid of right now?
“Getting a bad grade, honestly,” Irwin said. “Just because I wanna pass all my classes and I’m worried they’ll end up [being] really bad grades. Especially social studies.”
What is something you are looking forward to?
“DCLs [dual county leagues] for the swim and dive team,” Irwin said. “That’s like the end of year competition.”
Sophomore: Sasha Arakcheeva
What was your proudest moment this quarter so far?
“I’m proud of doing well on a really hard quiz for Algebra,” Arakcheeva Said. “I wasn’t able to study for it very well and I’ve been having issues with this unit, so when I got an 86%, I was really happy.”
Who was someone essential to helping you make it through this quarter?
“My friends were very essential to me because I could study with them which made the idea of doing schoolwork a lot more fun and enjoyable,” Arakcheeva said.
What is something you’re afraid of right now?
“I’m really scared of taking my midterms because I’m a really bad procrastinator and I’m scared that my cramming will lead to a bad grade,” Arakcheeva said. “Midterms are always pretty stressful so I’m not really looking forward to them.”
What is something you are looking forward to?
“I’m looking forward to April break because that’s when I start driver’s ed,” Arakcheeva said. “I get to go with my close friend, so I’m excited to start this process with her.”
Junior: Rufat Hasanov
What was your proudest moment this quarter so far?
“This year there’s been a bunch of tests in physics, but I keep improving and getting higher and higher scores,” Hasanov said. “I also, in anatomy, keep acing the tests. I feel comfortable because I learn everything [in Anatomy] easily so I feel less stressed about midterms.”
Who was someone essential to helping you make it through this quarter?
“I’ve started to talk to my teachers in school whenever I’m confused about a topic and I have to study for tests,” Hasanov said. “This is the first year I’ve started conversing with my teachers, and I can always find [Janet] Pappas in the academic center and [Laura] Kruetter in the physics wing.”
What is something you are afraid of right now?
“Midterms,” Hasanov said. “I’m taking three [midterms] this year for the first time. They’re all honors classes and no matter how much studying I do, I feel like there’s gonna be questions I’ve never seen before. I’m also very worried because all of my classes have tests the week of midterms and the weeks following, so I have trouble finding time to study for midterms when I have so [many other things] to worry about at the same time.”
What is something you are looking forward to?
“I’m looking forward to prom because I can’t wait to have a great time with my friends,” Hasanov said. “I’m also thinking about the food they’re going to be serving. Also because prom is the biggest celebration in high school so I’m excited for that too.”
Senior: Lila Berg
What was your proudest moment this quarter so far?
“I got a 95 on my genetics test in AP Biology, and I had been struggling a lot,” Berg said. “It really brought my grade up. I studied a lot, but also I think that that’s just a part of bio that I really like, and so it was just easier to study for because I really am interested in genetics.”
Who was someone essential to helping you make it through this quarter?
“[Science teacher Cyd Tyska], because I have two classes with her, and she’s really good at telling me when things are due,” Berg said. “She’s very good with [telling me] when homework [is due] and that really helps me to plan and organize what I need to do first.”
What is something you are afraid of right now?
“In general, getting into college,” Berg said. “It’s such a big thing at Wayland, going to a good college and I just feel freaked out. Like what if people think the college I get into isn’t a good one and if that’s where I want to go, then I’m worried I’ll be embarrassed or something. So I’m just hoping I get into one of my top choices so that I won’t feel embarrassed about what I’ll go to.”
What is something you are looking forward to?
“I’m looking forward to winter week right now,” Berg said. “I can’t look too far forward, otherwise I’ll get stressed out. But I’m looking forward to midterms being over. And then after winter week, I’m going to visit some colleges that I got into, so I’m excited.”
Teacher: English Department Head Peter Galalis
What was your proudest moment this quarter so far?
“I think my proudest moment so far this quarter is, a very teacherly response, watching my students take on new challenges and reading books that they thought were too difficult for them, but finding great success in that,” Galalis said.
Who was someone essential to helping you make it through this quarter?
“My students who come to class every day with generally good attitudes and my colleagues in the English department, who are a great team to work with,” Galalis said.
What is something you are afraid of right now?
“I’m most afraid of the high student stress levels that start to bubble up around the end of the quarter and about midterm grades,” Galalis said. “I think it tends to kind of take students out of themselves a little bit. They get really stressed out and anxious, and then their health [and] rest suffers and then sometimes [it] leads to less effective learning [in] the classroom, and it’s just not good for anybody.”
What is something you are looking forward to?
“Warmer weather,” Galalis said. “I just think springtime is always a nice time on campus, both in terms of everybody’s moods lifting up a little bit [and] getting into the flow of second semester.”
Staff: Liz Doyle – WHS Attendance Secretary
What was your proudest moment this quarter so far?
“Enjoying my job,” Doyle said. “I like coming to work every day. It’s a pleasant place to be, I like what I do, and I don’t have to bring my work home with me.”
Who was someone essential to helping you make it through this quarter?
“I do have an excellent support system,” Doyle said. “I have another job, so people I work with at my other job [are very helpful]. And certainly my kids are really instrumental in keeping me going.”
What is something you are afraid of right now?
“A big snowstorm,” Doyle said. “I hate driving in the snow. The ice is worse. [Students driving] is something I do think about like, are we gonna get a snow day or not? And I think of all you kids that are driving, and I’m like, ‘Ooh, they’re new at this.’”
What is something you are looking forward to?
“A beach day,” Doyle said. “Once it becomes summer.”
