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Lamenting Scantrons
By Larinda Wenzel
Please take out a Number Two pencil. Read the directions carefully and clearly mark your answers on the bubble sheet. You will have exactly 60 minutes to complete the 60 questions on this portion of the exam. You may not write on the exam booklet and if you need scratch paper (assuming you have enough time to actually work out a problem) or need another pencil, please raise your hand and one of the test administrators will assist you. If you finish early, go back and double-check your answers. Please refrain from making designs on your scantron, and if you fall asleep, try not to snore. For those of you who find it difficult to focus under this pressure, just take your best guess and move on to the next question.
All right… so maybe I made up a few of those instructions. Regardless, I’d be willing to bet that the majority of you would agree that they should be added to the introduction paragraph that always gets read aloud before each portion of a standardized test. You could probably come up with a few more additions, yourself.
I felt like it was an appropriate time to reflect on the subject of standardized testing since so many of us are facing this torture even as I write this sentence. Many of you have probably taken or are preparing to take your ACT, SAT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT, GMAT…take your pick from the long list of placement exams that are required before you can move onto the next step in your educational journey. Personally, I recently gave in and purchased an extremely expensive book to begin preparing for the GRE. Of course, I know that no matter how long and hard I study, I will still be unable to really focus once that clock starts ticking away for each section. Although you can retake these test at your own costly expense, I won’t be doing that again since I managed to get a lower score each time I retook the ACT. First time's the charm.
All I can say is, thank goodness for leadership, community service, and debate scholarships… because my GPA and tests scores have always left something to be desired! I'm not talking the big F of Failure here, but I'm not one of the lucky ones blessed with All A's, either. I know I’m not the only person in the world who's been so confused by those tests that they made designs on the scantron… you know, marking things like ACDC or ABACADABA? Not that I'm advocating this approach… I know that actually reading through the questions and going through the process of answer elimination would be more effective… I just freeze up sometimes. I love learning and know that tests are important; after all, there has to be some sort of evaluation process to make sure you've learned something. But I’ll never understand why we spend an entire semester of Driver’s Ed reading a book, taking quizzes, and watching videos… and then only spend a few hours actually driving.
Sometimes it seems like an impossible task to pick a career and do all of the things necessary to obtain that dream job. From the time we are little we are constantly being asked what we're going to be when we grow up, as if we’re supposed to decide right at that moment. High school counselors and antsy parents add to the pressure to pick a career, so you apply to and hopefully attend the appropriate college. Once in college, the pressure intensifies for a number of reasons, but it never seems to get easier to pick that one career, to find and follow that one perfect path. True, there are many people that do not struggle with this, people who seem to have a direct route mapped out to their desired career and have no trouble deciding on a major or answering the famous question of what they are going to do when they grow up. My hat is off to those of you that fall in this category. Unfortunately, I was not one of these people. And you know… maybe that was okay. Why? Because I started to figure out that being involved in extra-curricular activities, learning valuable skills like leadership, teamwork, problem solving, and communication… these were real-life skills, skills I'd be using for the rest of my life. And with skills like these, actually living them is a lot more effective and educational than reading about them.
Out in the "real world," it seems that everyone has a college degree, and yet unemployment rates have been at all-time highs. A degree isn’t that magic ticket right into the job of your choice anymore. A perfect score on an SAT is pretty impressive, but it won't guarantee you the perfect career. I’m still searching for the answer to this question of what I will do with my life, but you better believe I know what I’m not going to do… and I didn’t discover this while sitting in class or studying for a test. I’ve narrowed down my career options because of work experience and involvement in student organizations.
I know I’ve been rambling, but there is a point to all this: For those of you that are currently losing sleep over the fact you don’t know exactly where you’re going at this point in your life, or for those of you stressed out about test scores and scantrons… I hope you know that you're not alone. Realize that while tests and plans are very important for your future, they're not the only things that determine your success. Opportunities surround you every day to learn the kind of skills they never teach in any class, or ask about on any test - real world experience is much more important than a test score in many cases!
Larinda Wenzel is a manager for Dixie State College's Information Technology Department and a regular contributor to the LSN. Click here to learn more about Larinda and how to contact her!
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