Test Taking: The Heart of Our Living Nightmares and Ways to Face Them

This is the sight we get to see for 1-3 hours when we face the arduous 

task of taking a test.

If you ask any junior or senior in High school what one thing they hate most about the final ventures towards heading to college, the most common answer would tests. Juniors and Seniors are faced with test after test after test and it just never seems to end.

This topic is being brought up because as the 2012-2013 school year is coming to a close, AP Exams are starting to take place. As most students know, AP Exams are college courses that require a large and taxing exam to be taken at the end of the year, and if a good enough score is reached than that student may be able to opt out of that specific class in the college they attend. So yeah, these exams are a big deal. However, at the same time, many students (Juniors mostly) are also taking their SAT's, ACT's, SAT Subject Tests, and any other application or test related requirements they may have. Overall, the end of the school year is filled with testing, testing, testing, and then some more testing. 

I personally have my AP Lang Exam coming up this week and an APUSH Exam next week, along with an SAT on June 1, and I haven't even signed up for any ACT or SAT Subjects Tests yet, so I still have those to look forward to. I am sure that other Juniors feel my pain when it comes to all the things we must do in the next couple months before senior year gets up and running. Some people may deal with test taking better than others, but for the most part they are incredibly stressful and lead to the factors we all know so well: lack of sleep, over eating (or under eating), and near mental breakdowns at the sheer thought of all the things needed to be done. 

This is the expression we are all familiar
with, the "Ugh, what is going on?" face.

During times like these, we all try to find ways to deal with the said stress and difficulty testing brings into our lives. Some people take unique methods of loosening their tensions, but there are some more conventional ways that do help the majority of people loosen the grasps of the stress from school. I will list things that I have found to help me, but other sources do say similar things such as the one here.

But nevertheless, here are 3 tips/ways I have found to be helpful in dealing with the absolute nightmare of test taking.

1. Talk to your teacher - I am always surprised at the sheer amount of people who let this idea blow over them. Your teachers are there to help you, so let them help you. If you feel seriously unprepared for an exam or test, then ask your teacher for some extra help to clear up any uncertainties you have, and who knows, you may even be able to get an extension. Your teachers are people too and can totally understand if you feel stressed out about something in their class, so don't feel ashamed to ask them about it.

2. Relax - This one seems redundant, but im serious when I say all you need to do is stop freaking yourself out. You may be thinking, "Well, if I could do that then this wouldn't be a problem?", and you're right, it wouldn't be a problem, which is why you need to relax. If it's listening to music, watching your favorite show on Netflix, or playing some good ole' video games, whatever you need to do to take your mind off that dreaded test is what needs to be done. Over thinking and psyching yourself out about it can be the ultimate downfall for some people. 

3. Have confidence - This one may be hard because tests and school in general are so emotionally and mentally draining, but ultimately, having confidence when going into a test makes all the difference. If you think you are going to fail, then you're going to take the test knowing you're going to fail, a mindset which doesn't help out a whole lot. If you tell yourself, "I will beat that test", even if you may be totally unprepared, you will take it with a stronger mindset. And anyways, for the most part, the worst thing that could happen is you don't get a good score (and you can retake SAT's and ACT's as much as you want). Way too many people do not have enough faith in themselves to face these kinds of things. You are undoubtedly smart enough and don't let any person, test, or aspect of society tell you otherwise. Think it and you will do it. 

I hope these three points helped you make some sort of realization about something you need to change to help yourself with any upcoming tests or anything that you are worried about. Again, the website here probably compiles better tips, but these are the three things I have compiled through my own experiences to help myself through these trying times. 

If you have any tips of your own that you wish to aid in the benefit towards preserving other people's mental health, email me at jackdominick@gmail.com, or just leave a comment with anything you wish to say.

Thank you for reading and I wish you well on all your future endeavors,

-Jack

Life with a Puppy

About 4 months ago my family got a new puppy, Dixie. We were so excited to have another dog in the house and to have a playmate for our 2 year old poodle, Jazz.  Jazz was the perfect puppy, well, not perfect, but as close to perfect as one who likes to chase squirrels can be. He even poses for pictures!

Little did we know that Dixie would be the complete opposite of Jazz.

Dixie, as my mom describes her is, “hell on wheels”. When she was smaller, she didn’t follow the normal puppy sleep schedule of play-nap-play-nap-play-nap, instead choosing to conserve her energy and take only one nap in the middle of the day. To anyone who has never had a puppy, this might not seem so bad. But, believe me when you’re on Dixie-duty, you live for naptime.  

The hours that Dixie was awake, she required almost constant supervision. You couldn’t just watch her; you had to entertain her as well because a bored Dixie equals a Dixie getting into trouble. Your time is instead spent pulling tissues out of her mouth, wrestling shoes back, begging her to stop pulling on Jazz’s ears and telling her to stop jumping on the counter. Add to the mix having to take her out every 20 minutes or have to clean up a yellow puddle and you end up exhausted faster than she does. And this starts at 5:30 every morning and only ends when she (finally) goes to bed around 10:30, even on the weekends.

Oh, and you remember how I said we got her 4 months ago? Count back and you’ll realize that we got her in the winter. When it’s COLD. Who in their right mind gets a puppy in the middle of winter? My family, that’s who. Have you ever had to take a puppy out to go to the bathroom when it’s below freezing, the ground is covered in ice, and you have to wait through the most elaborate poo-dance known to dog-kind? Well, let me tell you that I wish I had bothered to put on a coat that night because it was really hard to tell Dixie to hurry up with my teeth chattering.

Luckily, as Dixie gets a little older and a wee bit more experienced with the way things work, things get better and I couldn’t imagine life without my little black ball of fur.

Interested in getting a puppy and want to know what you're getting yourself into? Email me here, then go check out Dixie and Jazz's breeder's website.