Using all the tactics taught to me by parents and eight siblings who had maneuvered through the halls of public school before me, I went to see my professor and go over the test, so I can (hopefully) do better on the next one. As we went through, question by question, I explained that I had known some of the vocabulary and grammar before the test, but forgot it in the moment. He turned to me with a wary look in his eye and cautiously asked:
"do you have test-taking anxiety?"
The first response to careen around my cranium was "oh please, not another feel-good socio-psycho phenomenon of my coddled generation." My second thought was "Is that a thing?"
Instead of firing that off though, I replied with something like "no more than the next person," and we went on reviewing my mistake-ridden test.
Is test-taking anxiety real? Or rather, I mean "is taking tests agonizing enough that we ought not to do it? Is the strain, stress, etc of this style of knowledge-testing worth inflicting on young students?
As my political analysis teacher so well explained, tests allow us to quantify as best as possible how well someone has internalized taught knowledge. None of us like to sit down and bubble in circles with a No. 2 pencil: there are plenty of stereotypical characters that embody our self-doubt concerning standardized test performance.
As I left my professor's office, I wondered: at what point are the standard stressors of life no longer acceptable. When does our Irish-inspired hardiness to accept the hardships of life and deal with them stop and our unacceptance of unpleasantries begin? And when should it?
"I’ve learned all our course books by heart, of course.”
Walking out of the Liberal Arts Building at my university, I couldn't help but think of a woman I knew in Oregon. "I can't work," she told me matter-of-factly. "Being around people stresses me out." Her unemployed husband nodded in agreement.
If taking tests stresses me out, can I skip out on them? If going to work makes me uphappy, can I expect someone else financially support me? In short, if I don't like a situation, what rights do I have in removing unpleasantness from my life? 'Cause I'm really sick of the government taking 20% of my income, my landlord insisting I clean up after myself, my school refusing to give me a diploma unless I earn high enough marks, and the police insisting I not assault stupid, offensive people.
All these things stress me out...so can I get some extra considerations in this Test?
