As the semester winds down, most Villanova students feel a familiar mix of burnout, anticipation and sheer exhaustion. For many, December becomes a blur of back-to-back deadlines, final projects and exams that extend right up until the last possible day. And while academic rigor is part of the college experience, there’s a growing sentiment on campus that professors need to consider the real impact of keeping students on campus until Dec. 19, especially when many of us are longing to get home for the holidays, to rest, recharge and reconnect with family after a long semester.
The issue isn’t the existence of finals. It’s the unevenness, the inflexibility and the lack of awareness about what these final weeks actually feel like for students. Many classes front-load material early on, only to assign massive cumulative exams or final papers due during finals week. The result? Students find themselves juggling multiple heavy deadlines in the same three-day window, mentally drained yet still expected to perform at their peak. Meanwhile, some students get to head home far earlier, not because they’re lucky, but because their professors structured their courses differently.
“My professors planned ahead so all our major assignments were wrapped up by early December,” sophomore Michela Marchiano said. “I don’t have any finals this year, so I get to go home on the 11th. I feel relieved, but honestly, it feels unfair when so many of my friends are stuck here until the 19th.”
And she’s not wrong to feel conflicted. Walking through campus in mid-December can feel like walking through two different universities: one where some students have already left, stress-free and enjoying the holidays, and another where students are hunched over in Falvey until 2 a.m., counting down the days until they can finally breathe.
This scheduling imbalance also creates academic and emotional disparities. Students staying until the 19th often spend the last week on campus overwhelmed, trying to juggle cumulative exams, presentations and final papers. They’re working hard, but in an environment where the campus is half-empty, the dining halls are quiet and many friends and roommates have already left. The sense of community Villanova prides itself on quickly evaporates, leaving those remaining feeling isolated during a time of year that should feel warm, connected and celebratory. This isolation amplifies stress. When students are mentally checked out, lacking support systems and trying to push through exhaustion, even the best intentions behind finals week don’t land as intended.
The solution isn’t eliminating finals altogether. It’s about rethinking the rhythm of the semester. Professors could distribute assessments more evenly, avoid teaching essential new content in the last two weeks, and make final projects due before finals week rather than during it. Even small shifts, like offering an optional early exam date or allowing students to submit final papers earlier, could dramatically improve student stress levels. Ultimately, better planning leads to better learning. Students aren’t asking to learn less; we’re asking to learn under conditions where we can actually succeed.
At the end of the day, the holiday season shouldn’t be spent stressed, isolated and overwhelmed. It should be a time of rest after months of hard work, an opportunity to reset before another challenging semester. Villanova prides itself on community and care, and if we genuinely embrace those values, then it’s time to open a conversation about what December should look like for students. The most meaningful gift professors could give isn’t extra review sessions or extended office hours, it’s the chance to go home a little earlier, with our minds fully clear and our spirits intact.
