Ack! It’s the ACT!

By Tom Bragg
Nitro High School

It sneaks up on you. One day you are just a freshman, hoping not to get run over in the halls on your first day of high school. Then all of a sudden you realize that next year, you are going to be a senior.

Being a senior comes with a lot of baggage: fighting senioritis, keeping your grades up and choosing a college. On most college information request forms, there is a place that reads “ACT score.” It was when I was scanning a card from Bethany College a few months back that I realized it was that time — I had to register to take my ACT.

The ACT Web site (www.act.org) says “the ACT assessment is designed to assess high school students’ general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work.”

“College-level work?” I thought. “This test is not going to be fun at all.”

I received my registration information about a month before my test date. I looked at the envelope and it read “Bragg, Robert.” So back it went, and about two weeks later, I received a new registration ticket with my name spelled correctly.

I was to take my exam on April 7 at Hurricane High School. That gave me only a few weeks to get ready. I took a few practice tests, but that was about the extent of my preparation.

The night before the test I went out with some friends, but came home by 9:30 p.m. to take one more practice test before the real thing. After finishing the practice, I watched some TV and drifted to sleep.

The next morning was met with mixed emotions. While I had gotten a night of good sleep, it was a Saturday and I was awake at 6:30 a.m. Plus, I was about to take one of the more important tests that I will ever take.

I showered and grabbed what I needed to take with me, found my keys and was on the road. I hit Tudor’s and grabbed a “Peppi” for the road before getting on the interstate.

Upon arriving at Hurricane High, I found that I knew some of the people who also were taking the ACT that day. After chatting with a few of them, I ran into my friend Chuck, who also goes to Nitro. We found our testing room and waited to be seated. After what seemed like an hour of instructions, it was finally time to take the test.

While it was not as hard as I had expected, the ACT was by no means easy. A basic knowledge of math and English would not get you a good score. I suggest that you take at least pre-calculus before attempting the ACT.

When the test was over, Chuck and I met some other friends at the Teays Valley Fazoli’s for lunch. We all discussed the test and what we thought about it, then went our separate ways. I came home and took a well-deserved nap.

One test down, one more to go. I plan on taking the SAT next fall.