The End or Beginning

We have feared this terrible thing for as long as we have heard others complaining about it. I never really understood how much it would affect me and the way my life would turn out. The Councilor flat out told us that it was just a test. As a sophomore I would watch the juniors stress about it and check out books to study. I had heard stories that they would hide in corners until early hours in the morning, trying to soak every bit of information into their practically fried brains. Not only would this determine my life, but throughout the weekdays eight more hours would haunt me. Not to mention how sleep deprived I would become. Now, I’m the one who is hiding in the corner until early hours of morning, trying to soak every bit of information into my practically fried brain. There is a time line, a set date, an end to all this stress. No, it’s not my death date, though that’s what it seems. This is all about the ACT test, school, and other stressful things. I would like to say it’s the end of stress, but in a way it’s just another beginning of it. Our score will determine what college to attend, what classes to take, and what to become. How can we let one test rule over our lives so much? We do it because our education leads us to who and what we become. We do it because we have been given the opportunity to get an education. We do it because without challenges in our lives we would go nowhere. In all honesty, it’s not the test that builds us. It’s the way that we prepare for it and how we face the fact that it has to happen. It's the way we look at it, through eyes of annoyance or acceptance.