Should High Schools give Seniors a Break? By: Katie Ho

As the school year approaches its beginning, high school seniors are booked and busy with college applications, common-apps, and scholarship deadlines. However, as seniors focus on college applications, they are also expected to focus on school. This leaves the question; should seniors have a break semester? A break semester would allow seniors to have an opportunity to convert all their focus on the admission process, rather than stressing about both college and school. So, should schools give seniors a break?

While introducing a break semester for seniors is a controversial topic for many, it could possibly be beneficial for many students. Ashley Hoang, a Senior at Peachtree Ridge High School, stated "I believe like having a gap is like beneficial so they can mainly focus on the application, you know, instead of like feeling overwhelmed.” She added, “think it will give them more motivation. Like, if you think about it, it's a lot of time. So, you can just use all that time to, like, do your college application without stress.” Suggesting how having a break semester can lead to motivation, and a reduction in stress. Maya Ellis, a Senior at Hillgrove High School, also stated, “I think that it would be great because you can have time to focus on it instead of your assignments, and so you can put your full attention on writing good college essays and things like that.” Explaining how a break can give students an opportunity to focus mainly on applications and essays.

However, a small con follows the idea of a break semester. While having a break semester may allow students to be productive, others believe it would be inefficient. Jaren Anthony, a Senior at Hillgrove High School, stated, “I don'tthink there are necessarily benefits besides just applying for college. I think that's mainly the students, but it's also their willingness to put in the work.” he also included “Students will miss out on Oppurtunites like leadership, servant leadership, personal growth, work effort. The list goes on and on, but I am going to cut it off there.” Expressing how having a break semester may prevent students from participating in certain activities and opportunities.  

While the question of whether students should be granted a break, the semester goes without an official answer. The idea offers both advantages and disadvantages. Many may consider a break semester to be a stress reliving opportunity to work on their applications, while others may consider it to be unproductive. Ultimately, whether a break semester should be implemented or not lies in the opinion of students, parents, and school boards.