Twenty more minutes of Netflix, twenty more minutes of sleep, twenty more minutes of eating, or twenty more minutes of sitting in a classroom, testing. I know what I would choose.

Or more accurately, I know what I would not. I do not want another 20 minutes of testing, and I certainly do not need it.

This year, each finals period has been extended by 20 minutes, and are now two hours and 20 minutes long.

My year has not been lacking in tests and quizzes, and I spend plenty of time worrying about each and every one of them. The last thing I need more time spent in the classroom. I barely have enough time as it is.

These additional 20 minutes may seem small and insignificant, but they are wasted as a longer finals period. Twenty minutes of review will not improve my grade. This will be 20 minutes of waiting for my test to start, 20 minutes of worry, or 20 minutes of becoming more confused than I already am.

These 20 minutes are meant to give students a chance for extra review right before finals. It is meant to provide extra study time to relieve stress or to improve student test scores, but 20 minutes is simply not enough. To review an entire semester of discussions, worksheets and vocabulary in 20 minutes is impossible, and 20 minutes of questions will not make any significant changes in our grades. This is too little too late for review.

Our 20 more minutes of review can also be twenty more minutes of testing. It is enough time for over half of an FRQ, 15 multiple choice questions, or a few short answer, and some of our teachers may find a longer test to be a better use of time.

It should be my choice to decide what to do with the 140 minutes that have been added to the exams. I could sleep more, or eat more, but instead I am trapped in the classroom, when all I really want to do is lay on my couch and cry.

Let us have the extra review, but let us choose its purpose. In high school, we are supposed to find out what works for us. We are supposed to learn how to prepare, study, and use what little time we have effectively.

Give back the extra 140 minutes, and offer a voluntary morning tutorial so that we can choose what is best for us. Students could make the choice to ask teachers questions, sleep, or study. We should be able to decide.