Most teachers will tell you that when studying for a test you should for an hour or two everyday for a week leading up to the test but do any students actually do that? Wel,l probably some, or most, but for the students who procrastinate studying for a test until the night before — they are cramming. According to Dictionary.com, cramming is defined as ‘studying intensively over a short period of time just before an examination’ and that is exactly what a lot of high schoolers do.

While talking to some students that attend Patchogue Medford High School, they had a lot to say about cramming. When I asked a group of students if they do indeed cram for tests regularly, some responded with, “I don’t study at all.” One said, “No, I usually study everyday for like thirty minutes each subject.” And, of course, the majority of the group responded with, “Yes, I cram for everything.” I proceeded to ask the the students who said ‘yes’ if cramming actually works for them and surprisingly they all said that they have passed every test that they crammed for. Although they haven’t failed yet, one student said that they would highly recommend not doing it because, “All it does is cause you more stress for the night before the test… And it stuffs a whole bunch of knowledge in your brain for like twelve hours and then it all disappears like you never even studied.”

Cramming for tests is just not fun and in order to stop cramming and study normally, being organized really helps as well as studying everyday in short time spans, taking good notes and paying attention in class because usually if you get it in class the first time you won’t need to study for it later on. Listen to these students and don’t cram for future tests because it’s overall easier to just study everyday for a little bit instead of staying up all night the day before your test stressing. Just don’t do it.