Purple Haze
Too...many...bubbles
By Lauren Bagian

Jan. 29, 2009

As I’ve already stated, last week was midterm week. So most would assume that after such a trying week, we high school students would want to take a break over the weekend and relax our brains. However, with midterms over, we all have to start looking forward to next year, and for juniors that means our senior year. With senior year comes applying to colleges, and college applications mean SAT scores. Oh joy...

Last Saturday a large group of Northern juniors and seniors, myself included, fanned out to different high schools that were hosting the SATs in hopes to get them out of the way. We had our assortment of number two pencils, scientific calculators and snacks in preparation for the 5 hours we would all spend in similar classrooms filling in countless scan-tron bubbles while watching the clock intently as to practice proper time management. In my opinion, getting past sign-in was probably the most stressful part. Once I made it to my testing room and filled out all my information on the answer sheet (after suffering a near heart-attack because I couldn’t remember my SSN) the actual test began and I felt like I had been practicing for it all week. Then there was the constant fear that a cell phone would go off, causing that person to get kicked out of the test with no questions asked. Due to sheer terror I left my cell in my car.

After getting to the school at 7:15 a.m., I walked out of my testing room around 12:30 p.m. As I strolled across the grass I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I’d taken the SATs and survived, so I could finally relax. Plus, even if my scores aren’t perfect when I finally get them, I can always take the test again. However, no one is ever really that anxious to do that. I can honestly say, and I think many of my peers would agree, that we all need a break from “completely and darkly” filling in little bubbles for a while.