One test and a couple good grades earned in high school, and you are on your way to college. One test stands between you and a future career. One test changes whether you receive $1,000 or $10,000 toward college tuition. That one test is named ACT, which is an abbreviation for American College Testing, a standardized, timed test that is a measurement of what you’ve learned in high school courses that include English, Reading, Mathematics and Science.

Most colleges require that you take the exam, some even require a specific score. While some students excel at the task, others have struggles, like: what if the teacher wasted the year talking about pointless topics that are irrelevant to the actual subject matter? That’s not fair to the students who have to suffer through, the ones who are actually interested in their education. Or what about the students who just can’t handle the time pressure, do they take that into account when grading the tests? No. They do not take into consideration what kind of student you are in the classroom. To them, you are just another test booklet to grade.

Yeah, if you blow the test out of the water, then you should be rewarded by not only a college acceptance, but a large scholarship. Because, not to mention, college is really freaking expensive. Yet, if you are an average student, who does averagely, the ACT shouldn’t hold you back from going to the school of your dreams.

When students graduate high school, we are expected to grow up and remove our safety goggles as we enter the real world. The world is watching us, and we are expected to act in a way that society deems fit. Which is odd, because nowhere in the real world are we defined on one single test. During a job interview, businesses take many things into consideration, not just a silly score that you acquired on a test. Growing up, we were molded to perform a certain way to do well on the ACT, but in reality that one test seems wasteful.

Students can take classes, read books and hire tutors to prepare for the test, but when it comes down to test day, you are on your own. You have to trust that you’ve been taught what you need to know to ace that test.

One test doesn’t and shouldn’t measure our intelligence or whether or not we can work hard in college. One test can’t prove what kind of students we will be. One test should not define us for the rest of our lives. You are more than your ACT score!