What does the word "dead" mean?
It means without life. Not living also implies no pulse, not moving, and not thinking. In the case of "dead week" before finals, it should mean no tests, no projects and no new material. The idea behind dead week is that students get a week to truly prepare themselves for the challenge of finals. However, few teachers follow this "rule." Students have enough work to do with finals the following week. We do not need the added pressure of tests, projects, and new material the week before our humongous tests.

As a senior, I was surprised to learn that I had finals in every single one of my academic classes. I expected one in my one-semester economics class, but I thought that I might get some slack in my more difficult, yearlong AP courses. I assumed that the normal coursework was enough to test my knowledge, and that the more important reviewing would be done prior to taking AP exams in May. I had no such luck.

I finally got over the fact that I have finals in all my classes, but I am outraged that dead week has been overly stressful. I have two tests and a big project on top of my normal homework, on top of attempting to re-learn everything I have forgotten over the course of the semester in all my classes. There comes a point when all this work becomes ridiculous.

As far as work during dead week, I am not even one of the worst-off people I know. A friend of mine has a project due in every single one of his classes in addition to his normal homework. When is he supposed to find the time to study for finals? I mean, he can try to cram all the information this weekend, but it’s much more helpful to start working on it earlier.

I think that teachers need to readjust their curricula or simply cancel tests and projects they planned for "dead week." If I were a teacher, I wouldn’t give my students stress right at the time they need a clear mind to study and recall all the information they learned in my course. It is simply unfair to pile on the work before finals.

The best solutions that I can see are to plan curricula differently, simply cancel tests and projects during the week, and put extra emphasis on the final. This late in the semester, the few points on these things will not have a great effect on grades, but they are still enough to stress students out. If teachers put extra emphasis on the subject material not tested on the final, then students will be forced to study it, but there will not be stress during dead week.

The administration seems to feel that it is helping students by having "dead" week, if only on paper. But if anything, students are actually more stressed out this week. I’m frustrated that the administration is praised for taking action, when no student stress is alleviated.

Anyway, I don’t have much time to waste; I’m going to go do the studying that I can.