Summer has just started but in the blink of an eye it will all go by too fast. The school year has ended and as soon as we know it another one is about to begin. With the new school year comes new material to learn, more things to study and the dreaded standardized testing. From SAT’s to ACT’s you name it, we have all taken it. I would love to know how standardized testing became something that we have to do. If you talk to your parents or grandparents, they will all say that it was never pushed upon them. I wonder when we became so much of a number oriented society. We have all read it on college pamphlets “You must meet this ACT or SAT score in order to be admitted.” When did that happen and why?

Standardized Testing doesn’t prove anything. A score on one test shouldn’t determine how smart you are. Based on my SAT score, I barely got into college. I currently have a 3.8 GPA. My SAT score would gauge me as not being able to succeed or handle college material. Maybe I am just a really bad test taker who hates having time limits. These tests have no measure of how well I am going to succeed in life or in school. It is just a number, a number that shouldn’t even have a meaning. We stress to children these days that they need to do well on these tests to do well in life. Why? A test doesn’t determine your ability to communicate with others, to interview for a job, or how to work well with others. All of these are valuable skills that everyone will face at some point in their life and a pencil and paper will do you no good.

Albert Einstein once said, “if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will spend the rest of its life thinking its stupid.” In some way, aren’t we teaching children that they are the fish in this situation. We are telling them that if they don’t meet a score then they aren’t good enough. We stress the importance of scores but shouldn’t we just be stressing the importance of values such as being a hard worker, being reliable and punctual. Some children aren’t good at taking tests, others have a learning disability that makes tests hard. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t as smart as the perfect score student sitting right next to them.

Standardized Testing doesn't prove anything. You are smart regardless of what some test tells you. Go ahead and apply to that dream school even if you don't meet the ACT or SAT standards, you never know what can happen. As "Full House" once said "it's no big deal, it's just a test." A number on a piece of paper doesn't define you. You define yourself.