SAT: Stress All the Time?

Sheldon Ang

For weeks, many students worked hard to complete their school work and do practice problems to, hopefully, get a decent score on the SAT test. The week right before the October 1st SAT test happened to be one of the most stressful for me. Here’s why:

I believe that the school system is a living being; it can “smell” stress. On weeks when a student has no other obligations, there happens to be no homework at all; however, on weeks when a student is stressing out about something important, suddenly three quizzes, two tests, and a million other homework assignments pop-up. Coincidence? I think not.  Welcome to my latest SAT experience.

Coping with school work is hard enough. Throwing in SAT practices makes it impossible to deal with. It is not easy sleeping at 2 in the morning and waking up at 7:45 every single day. Every morning when I shower, I literally have to say these two prayers out loud: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “this is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I need this to keep motivated throughout the day. To me, the SAT was a huge burden. Every night when I finished my homework, I felt relief—until I realize that I still have to do an hour worth of SAT practice; and the moment I realized I had to practice was usually 1 in the morning.

Monday: English essay due and AP Calculus quiz, Tuesday: AP Statistics quiz, Wednesday: AP Chemistry test, Thursday: AP Statistics Test, Friday: AP Calculus practice problems. As soon as Friday came, I was pretty much sick and tired of doing SAT practice questions. I was so hyped and ready to get over with this standardized test.

Boom, Saturday came and the next thing was my friends and I are walking out of the exam hall with smiles on our faces. As soon as we gathered in our group, Darian Yeap (12) immediately said, “It is time for a celebration, where should we eat?” After deciding on a nearby Japanese restaurant, we happily made our ways to the cars.

Life is filled with challenges all the time. I believe it is up to each individual to push through the hardships and the stressful times.