With the school year quickly coming to an end, finals seem to be approaching faster than usual. However, it has actually been over a year since the last “normal” final was taken in the building.

This year’s finals, for the most part, will be how they were before the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools into a virtual format. 

Friday, May 28, will be the first day of finals. It will be a regular A day schedule with exams in first, second, and fourth blocks. Tuesday, June 2 will be a regular B day with exams in fifth and eight blocks. The last day of finals will be a half day on Wednesday, June 3. This day will only be three classes — third block, ANP, and seventh block. Exams will take place in both the third and seventh block. 

Seniors will not be allowed on campus on June 2 and June 3 in order to reduce the chances of coming in contact with the virus. If necessary, seniors will take finals virtually so they will be able to attend graduation and avoid being quarantined.

The other big change to Wednesday will be that students will not go to lunch. Rather, a cart will go around each floor for students to grab food in an a la carte fashion. 

In regards to this being the first final in the building after three semesters of virtual finals, Mr. Brian Brennan, assistant principal, said “I’m a little nervous about it. I have faith and I have trust in the kids, and I trust the staff that they have prepared the students to the best of their ability. “

However, Mr. Brennan isn’t the only one who feels a bit nervous about finals this semester.

A junior who hasn’t taken an in-person final since first semester of her sophomore year, Madeline Conway (11), said “I don’t feel as prepared as I should be, but I also know we haven’t learned to the capacity that we used to due to virtual learning because of the pandemic.”

She admitted that she is stressed about finals. “I haven’t had a grade this important in a while,” she said.

A lot of teachers are interpreting finals differently from one another. Most of them are doing final exams before the actual final days. They also have different weights on the final grades. Conway said, “some are counting finals for a lot of points and some are barely taking any points for it, some are doing exams, and some are doing projects.”

Science teacher Mrs. Cynthia Jenkins, who is retiring after 23 years at OHS, is giving the last final of her career and the first final she’s given in person in over a year. “It doesn’t feel weird to me because I’ve been giving finals for a very long time,” she said. “Last year felt weird.” 

This will also be her last batch of seniors, who won’t even be in the building on the last two days of the school year. She will miss them, saying, “yeah, it is sad I don’t get a final goodbye.”