Will Hunting Wouldn’t Have Skipped His Final - You Shouldn’t Either

By Alejandro Menendez

The reckless genius of Will Hunting offers a blueprint for gifted high schoolers and their work ethic in an age where they are given more privileges than ever.

A 1997 film written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Good Will Hunting displays a rugged protagonist in Will Hunting. A young orphan from rough South Boston, Will solves advanced calculus problems yet works construction, choosing to pursue knowledge while dismissing college and external rewards as frivolous.

One could imagine Will in a high school environment as a student who skips class every day in order to do what he feels is more necessary, yet ends up walking in on the day of the final and acing the exam.

Contrastingly, high school students today seem to be a foil to Will. Many seem entirely uninterested in the actual material that is displayed and are only obsessed with the results and leisure that getting the grade provides them.

Countless schools, in fact, have begun providing incentives meant to cultivate more passion for learning in these students, but in reality, these incentives replace students’ passion for learning with a passion for results and status that undermines real learning and knowledge.

High schools seem to be replacing real knowledge with statistics that look good on paper. According to the North State Journal, American students are testing at the lowest recorded levels in history from K-12. If incentives (such as removing semester and final exams based on good grades or attendance) are only allowing disciplined students to cop out of actual learning and performance, then they have no place in high schools.

What’s more devastating than a genuine loss of knowledge is the students’ general philosophy on taking final exams and rigorous classes. Students in honors programs share the same perspective.

“It’s competition-based, especially with having to take ACE classes and getting the Cambridge Diploma. I also feel I have to maintain my GPA and my academic status within the school to be able to compete for college,” said Nyla Escalona from Coral Springs Charter High School.

If final exams could negatively impact these students’ academic status, then why would they take them, even if they are the best display of knowledge? The desire to cop out of final exams meant to test real knowledge speaks to the goal of high school students shifting from gaining knowledge to gaining status.

The defining trait of geniuses like Will Hunting is not talent but a commitment to real knowledge. Allowing students to bypass final exams may unintentionally reduce opportunities to reinforce learning and demonstrate mastery. Over time, this could affect both individual growth and overall academic standards.