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Health & Fitness

High School Chronicles: Crunch Time for the SAT

The SAT may mean many things... but it doesn't mean your future.

As winter is approaching with its howling winds and harsh temperatures, these are all signals that one ground-breaking, life-altering event is just around the corner: the SAT.

Anyone will become serious once this subject is aroused in a conversation, even if it's out of school. The SAT has become the single factor in a high schooler's life that is believed to be the magical source in determining their future, thus resulting in a frantic hustle to do anything they can to get the highest score possible as a ticket to future success.

Although I realize that this particular standardized test is vital to the college application process, we need to realize that the SAT does not determine our futures. All over the world, we have heard countless stories of successful individuals who had become high school dropouts... yet with hard work and determination, they have emerged as some of the most influential people of the world (Anna Wintour, anyone?)

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This does not mean that one should toss the SAT aside as an insignificant factor... it is still important to treat it with seriousness. The point is, as long as an individual contributes their best efforts, there is nothing more that can be done and the realization that one did their best should be enough. The pressure from other peers or websites with average SAT scores should not undermine one's self-esteem... everyone takes their own path in life, and standardized tests do not reveal each individual's unique qualities and talents.

Here are some tips for any of those who are doubting themselves:

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1. Study for 4 months prior to taking the test (Get a tutor, study from a Barron's SAT book, take practice tests online)

2. The night before, don't cram extra vocabulary words or an additional 7 packets of math/reading practice.

3. Get encouragement from friends! Give each other support.

4. The day of, listen to a pump-up song or two to motivate you and get yourself in the mood.

5. Get two sharpened pencils, your ID, a calculator, your brain, and go in with your head held high!

6. Don't dwell on it after you finish. Just be glad to be done with it and be proud that you did your best.

Readers may think that this mindset is naive, but why worry so much? There's still your GPA and all the other activities you participate in, plus all of the unique assets that make you you. So from a not-so-average high schooler's point of view, do your best and there will be a guaranteed few who will appreciate all of your efforts.

...And with all that being said, off I go to take the international Japanese Language Proficiency Test!!

 

 

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