Christmas break is usually full of friends, family and fun. It is a great break from the stressful school year for both teachers and students. Freshman year was when I needed this break most after the realization of just how much effort is required to excel in high school. I am sure many freshmen can sympathize with this, especially those who consider school their top priority. No one wants to do any kind of homework over Christmas break; isn’t it so much easier to play video games? But with midterms right around the corner, everyone could use a few extra hours of studying. Many underestimate just how important midterms are. “Why should I spend any of my precious time studying? It’s not like I study for other tests, and I do just fine!” Did you know that midterms and finals create a fifth nine-weeks in terms of your overall grade for the year? Every 10% on the midterm is equivalent to 1% overall grade for the year. That might not seem like much, but if you do poorly on the midterm and finals, that percentage starts to add up and can have a big impact on your grade for the year. “Well it is my freshman year, why should I care about how I do? Can’t I pick my grades up later?” I won’t lie to you, yes, you can pick your grades up later. But if you are already in the mindset of “fixing things later,” you will be playing a long and difficult game of catch-up when you realize just how important having good work ethic pays off. School isn’t going to get any easier, and doing well in school without working for it isn’t achievable for most. On the other hand, you can’t stress out too much if midterms don’t go as planned. If you are expecting to get an A for the year, but you get a 70% on your midterm, that only takes off 3% of your total average. To be on the safe side, you should definitely prepare for these exams, but it isn’t the end of the world if you miss a few points. I am the kind of person that spends almost all of my free time doing school work because I like to push myself my hardest and truly enjoy learning. My freshman year, I was so worried about how I would do on my midterms because there are a lot of tests and projects in a very short amount of time. The best advice I can give to anyone is to pay attention and do the work when it is assigned, and the midterms will be a lot easier. By waiting until the last minute to start studying, you are setting yourself at a real disadvantage. No one needs to spend their entire break slaving over homework and studying for countless hours. Christmas break has the word ‘break’ in it for a reason. However, if there is a project due, and you already have all the information needed to complete it, why not get an early start to avoid stress later? Christmas break is 264 hours long. I think everyone could spare a few of those hours preparing for something that can have a significant impact on the rest of their life.