If you ask most of my teachers, you will see that I am an impeccable student; I do well in class and participate daily. Yet the thing that tears me down is testing.
I hate it.
I hate it so much.
I don’t just hate testing because I hate having to study and spend time out of my “busy” day to focus on one subject at a time. I hate the feeling it gives me. During eighth grade, tests made my stomach churn so much that I often found myself throwing up in the bathroom. I worked myself up so much because of the possibility of failure that I felt as if I was actually dying.
Things got progressively better the older I got, then I found myself in front of the biggest test in the history of the world: the ACT.
I wanted to never wake up. I went into 11 grade knowing that I had to take the ACT, in fact, I even ended my sophomore year dreading the test; it was a terrible thought to have.
When the day came, I have never felt such a surge of illness. I was constantly in pain, shaking due to being freezing cold, but my head was burning up. I was constantly thirsty but feared to drink because there was only one scheduled bathroom break and I was not about to take time out of this test to go to the bathroom. I wore comfy clothes and made sure I had no makeup on so people could not see my tears afterward.
The test ended, I finished everything I needed to, but at what cost?
My brain was fried. And I thought I actually left my soul in E-213 (sorry, Mr. Lange).
The ACT should not be as nerve-racking as it actually is– that applies to other standardized tests as well. Nobody should ever feel as if they are going to throw up their insides for as long as the tests take.
That is why I hate standardized tests, as well as, every other test known to man. They bring unnecessary stress and anxiety. If you’re like me, then it feels even worse.
I hate tests, but see their importance as well.
Though I hate these tests, I decide to take them. I take them because I know my score could possibly help our school, or get me into a college I really want. Fortunately, they both happened. But I also want to emphasize that tests are not the end of the world.
Your scores do not define you, and I encourage you “to do what’s difficult” and persevere, because by doing these things that are difficult, you are building character, and improving yourself.