Three seemingly innocuous (harmless) letters, yet they hold so much meaning in the average high school student’s life. They influence the students’ social life, study habits, and psychological status.
Fine, I’m exaggerating. But in all honesty, high school students are perpetually nagged to study for that notorious (despicable) “reasoning test” that’s scored out of 2400 points (or 36 for those who are into the other one). Filling in those little bubbles in during an early Saturday morning are the bane of most high school students’ lives.
The things that confuse me the most, however, aren’t the ridiculous critical reading questions about passages that induce sleepiness, nor the superfluous (unnecessary) vocabulary that nobody ever uses colloquially (everyday). It’s not even the horrendous math questions, with more letters than numbers. It’s the myriad (numerous) conflicting pieces of advice over the little test. We, as students, are told that the test is imperative (important), but not to stress out over it. We’re told that we should participate in things more interesting than test prep over the summer, but we’re surrounded by flyers and brochures about the numerous bootcamps available. We’re told that the score isn’t the most important part of the college application, but we’re constantly celebrating those who receive the full score on the test. (What is the author’s tone throughout that passage? Annoyed and perplexed.)
It’s disconcerting (confusing). At an age when we are easily influenced, it’s difficult to find the “correct” perspective. So do we go out to watch the Friday night movie, or do we stay behind to do practice test upon practice test? It’s the perpetual debate between living in the present and living for an improved future.
I can’t offer a solution to the conundrum (problem). Colleges won’t randomly stop requiring the scores, high schools won’t stop administering the exams, and students, in consequence, won’t stop worrying about the frivolous (little) test that determines their future.
But, this debate isn’t just for the reasoning tests or the subjects tests. It’s ubiquitous (everywhere) throughout the rest of our lives, whether it’s prepping for the big test or writing that thesis or working on the important business proposal.
So maybe, the test is more than just a reasoning test; perhaps it’s surreptitiously (secretly) a preparation to help us learn how to balance our lives now so we aren’t completely bombarded later.
Well, isn’t that just sagacious (clever) of the big test gods in the sky?