Through December 1st to December 9th, student’s who took an End Of Course (EOC) exam based class last year had to take the exam this year due to COVID-19. These exams took place 8 months after the test was supposed to have been completed, creating a negative reaction for the students taking the test. Madison Fernandez, a sophomore at Key West High School (KWHS), provided some of her input on the situation. “Many students threw out their studying materials for the EOCs as soon as they heard that the governor bypassed them all last year, myself included,” said Fernandez. 

Like Fernandez, some students have also felt the same way about not being prepared for the EOCs. On December 9th, an anonymous survey was held for KWHS students to express their opinion about the exams. Out of 26 students, 88.5% said that taking the EOCs 8 months after was not a fair alternative during this COVID-19 situation. 

For the students last year taking Biology 1, some expected to take the test and pass, checking off one of the requirements for the Scholar Diploma at KWHS. From the survey, an anonymous student from KWHS shared their opinion on the diploma debacle. “It is outright wrong to give a test after a long break from the subject, especially when we don’t even have our biology teacher anymore. The test should have been waived from the Scholar Diploma.” Backing up this student, 73.1% out of 26 students agreed with them, having an objected agreement that the EOC should have been waived.

Adding on to the series of unfortunate events, Fernandez explained how the testing environment was not appropriate for the EOCs. There was an overflowing amount of students in each room, which caused a lot of chatter, confusion, and most importantly, time wasted. However, Fernandez thought that the precautions for COVID-19 were executed perfectly, each student being placed six feet apart from each other. 

Now referring back to the survey, 53.8% of the students said they felt uncertain about the test, while 42.3% felt failure qualities. “Although I studied the material, I walked into the exam room with very low expectations. I must’ve looked like a deer in headlights after reading the first few questions,” said Fernandez.  

For some students, getting into college is a number one priority, so passing this test can be critical for getting into your dream school. If you pass, then sure the test was worth it, but what does that mean for the people who didn’t pass? Will they blame it on the school or on COVID-19?

At this rate, who knows what will happen next. Will the school system throw a curveball at the students again? Will COVID-19 affect us even more? Only time will tell, but for now on, maybe we should look more at the student’s perspective.