An aggravating, necessary rite of passage

When I finished my final exams in June, the last thing on my mind was sitting down and taking another test.

But as it was, I had the biggest of all high school tests coming the next day: the SAT Reasoning Test.

There are few things that can strike fear into the hearts of high school students like the acronym SAT. As if maintaining a good GPA and rounding up a healthy list of activities wasn't challenging enough, a good SAT score must also show up on a college application.

I keep hearing different takes on the importance of SAT scores in admission decisions. Some say they play a huge part, while others say they're not as important as other factors.

Given the 1 3/4-inch thick study books and private tutoring some receive, I'm more ready to believe the former.

Like millions before me, I did my best to prepare. While some study and practice for months on end, my "best" was one night with the Princeton Review-published "Cracking the SAT." Like a procrastinator trying to make the best of such little time, I skimmed through the enormous book.

The first thing I came across was an introduction to "Joe Bloggs," the Princeton Review's personification of the average SAT taker: impulsive enough to fall into any of the traps set up by the test makers.

During the next few hours, I did everything to ensure that I wouldn't go down the Joe Bloggs route. This included skimming through practice tests, eliminating obviously incorrect answers, and trying to think as if I was trying to outsmart another person with the same question.

The next morning, I arrived at Eisenhower High School at 7:45 a.m. and proceeded to the room designated for all those whose last names started with "Ca," none of whom I knew. I took my seat and ready or not, it was time to begin.

The test itself, which kept me there for nearly five hours, was both like and unlike the practice tests in the book. While the content hardly matched up with that of the book, the format and types of questions were all too familiar.

Before the halfway mark, I was already drained by the frustratingly repetitive nature of the test. While there was only one essay section, there were multiple sections for reading, writing and math skills.

The reading questions tackled a broad range of topics, including vocabulary, symbolism and writers' intentions. Despite that variety, they seemed the most tiring.

With quite a few of the questions, I wished there had been an option of "Sorry, but I'm not an extreme overachiever who spent years studying for this test."

All said, I feel the SAT is as necessary a pain as one is going to find in the high school years. It's needed to get into college, but at the end of the day, it tests a person less on his or her knowledge and more on his or her ability to think.

As I exited Eisenhower that afternoon, I was glad to be finished with the test. But the test wasn't finished with me, as filling in those dreaded ovals followed me straight to my dreams.

* Andy Carroll attends La Salle High School.

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