Editorial: Fourth marking period is not the end of the year | Tribruin Online
            Spring showers are finally giving way to warm sunny weather, the flowers are blooming, the beach is calling, and you can practically touch summer. That’s right – it’s fourth marking period. It’s so easy to let schoolwork just casually slip from your mind. This is absolutely a mistake. Fourth marking period often seems like the easiest one, but it is in many ways the most vital.

              For seniors, a college acceptance letter is not an irrevocable promise. That dream school you’ve been waiting to attend since second grade? They probably require you to send your final transcript. And they will not be happy to see a D in calculus. When you are accepted, they accept you assuming that the grades you have shown them reflect your work ethic and study habits all the time, not just when it’s important.

              Even if you’re not going to college next fall, the fate of your academic future may still be contingent upon your study habits during fourth marking period. With the month of May come HSAs and AP tests, for both of which it is imperative to pay attention in class to do well on. If you do poorly on an AP test it is just a waste of $85, but if you fail an HSA, you will have to take it over until you pass. You may even have to drop that elective you were so excited about taking next year to fit a passing the HSA class into your schedule.

              And remember, if you fail a class because of your fourth marking period grades, that is it. There is no next semester to retake the class, or its equivalent. Particularly for seniors, this is vital to remember – primarily because no one wants to spend the last summer before everyone moves away waking up early every morning to spend the day in a hot and stuffy classroom for summer school.

              So enjoy the weather and allow yourself to have some fun in the sun, but keep in mind– school’s not over yet!

Emalyn Embree, Co-Editor of Chief, Class of 2010