Standardized tests do not reflect your worth as a human being.

Let's just go ahead and make that clear.

As a college student, I've taken my fair share of standardized tests. The ACT, AP exams, CLEP exams, PSAT, the list goes on. I've even repeated some of these multiple times (I'm looking at you ACT number nine). Some of these exams have benefitted me and helped me achieve college credit early. However, others have left me feeling inadequate, disappointed and like a failure. Measuring my intelligence in terms of a numerical score has its own evil way of screwing with my self-esteem.

In high school I worked hard, made straight A's, and always took harder courses in order to challenge myself. But when those daunting Saturday mornings arrived, I would drag myself to my ACT testing location with insurmountable loads of stress, anxiety, and nerves. A booklet full of questions should not have been able to dictate my emotions in this way, but it did.

I remember crying my eyes out after some of those Saturday mornings because my score would come back below what I was hoping for. Even when I did start improving my score, it was never good enough because I had one goal in mind: a 31 composite score.

Guess who balled like a baby when she made a 30... twice? This girl.

I should've been ecstatic––that's a great score and must prove that I am so smart! That wasn't the case. I couldn't enjoy reaching such a high standard set by people I will never know because this standard wasn't high enough for the scholarship I wanted. So, instead of having an opportunity to apply for college funding based on my character and merit, I was denied this opportunity based on a number.

Just recently I took a CLEP exam to try to receive credit for a World Literature class. I passed the exam with a 59 on a scale of 80, which, according to CLEP, is great considering their recommendation is a score of 50. However, again, I could not celebrate my achievement because it wasn't good enough. In order to receive this credit at my school I needed to make a 60. One measly point will now cost me $1,794. Needless to say, I felt like a piece of garbage that even fails at being trash when I left that testing center. It still stings, if I'm being honest.

Numbers, numbers, numbers––oh, the power our education system has given them.

I'm sure any student can relate to my frustration with standardized testing. I am fairly certain that I'm not the only one who has cried over a test score. I'm not the only person who has stayed up until midnight when the ACT released test scores, hoping and praying for the magic number I needed. I'm not the only person who has spent way too much time, money and emotional stress on exams that compute a raw, numerical score that would consequently have a major impact on my future. I'm not the only student who has been drained of confidence and self worth over not reaching a standard set by Lord knows who (literally though, because I have no idea who specifically creates all of these exams and benchmarks, but they don't know me either).

If you have ever felt personally victimized by standardized testing, I feel you.