Romy H week 2 More Than A Number

High school, especially Junior year, causes a tremendous amount of stress for students. I’m sure you are one of these stressed students, yes you. Taking AP classes and trying to get good grades, all while attempting to maintain a social life, can be extremely challenging. In addition to all of this, the pressure of standardized testing results causes even more stress. The feeling of being judged by a score can be extremely degrading to many students. They start to think that they are stupid and doubt their own abilities. Scoring poorly on standardized tests makes students lose confidence in themselves and sometimes even question whether they will be able to get into a “good” college. Overall, I think that the method of standardized testing is not helpful for students, and the whole SAT and ACT system is completely unfair. First of all, not all students are good test-takers. Many have test anxiety or have other strengths outside of the tested subjects. Secondly, and the main reason I believe the system is unfair, is that your score is directly related to your financial status. If you have enough money, you could get tutoring to learn all the strategies and methods in order to score better. In addition, if you are able to afford graphing calculators, you save a lot of time during the test. Unfortunately, there is no denying that having more money gives you more opportunities to score better on these tests. Lastly, I believe that doing well on standardized tests should not be, or feel like, the main focus of college applications. A number that one scores on a test should not be, and is not, an accurate representation of them. A high schooler should be developing self-confidence and discovering their strengths during this time, not feeling like they are incompetent due to scoring poorly. An encouraging message to all of you struggling with the stress of standardized testing: you are more than just a number. You are a talented individual that has many strengths besides what you are tested on. Your scores are not a fair representation of you or how smart you are. You are more than just a number. Feel free to vent or comment why the system bothers you or tips to help and encourage others through this stressful year :)

Also, the photo is a drawing/painting I did that shows how I feel about this.