College Stuff
I was just thinking...I know I've read a couple people's college essays, but I think it would be fun to read some more. I've learned interesting things about the authors from the stuff I've read... So, let's post our essays! Ok! Fun! Yaaay!
The bright orange pencil grip slipped in my sweaty seven-year-old hand. From weeks of explanation and admonition, I had finally been convinced that my future, both tomorrow and forever, rested on my ability to fill in the circles for the next hour and a half. I licked my lips as I heard the first question: Which of these is not food? Let’s see… There’s a steak, a bowl of soup, a hamburger, and a stalk of corn growing in a field. Puzzled, I stared at the nutritious spread. Stumped, I finally decided on the steak. It did look a little rare for me.
The rest of the test, unfortunately, progressed in much the same manner. My confidence ebbing, I reached question twelve. (Which of these animals has the longest tail?) , Puzzled, I tried to measure the pictures with my index finger. As I bubbled in “C. Cat” instead of “D. Horse,” I began to fear that, if my future did indeed depend upon this block of testing, I would be living in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere. Not encouraged in the least, I finished the test and awaited my immediate eviction.
As the days passed, however, and no sheriff came to remove me from my bedroom, I decided that perhaps other methods to measure intelligence existed as well. Even if my test scores didn’t recommend my placement in the gifted program, I could still enjoy learning and be one of the “smart” kids. A 65th percentile COGAT score does not equal an IQ of twenty.
Fortunately, with the aid of some sensible teachers and a bit of relaxation on my part, my test scores (and my confidence) improved. As I have grown older, and standardized tests have progressed from tail-length differentiation to differential equations, my early lesson in the idiosyncrasies of standardized testing has aided me greatly. Recently, I had the opposite problem from that of my first testing experience. When I scored a 1600 on the SAT, I awaited my immediate exaltation much as I had earlier awaited eviction. Once again, I proved myself wrong. I had trouble, at first, when laud and honor were not heaped upon my most humble brow. But then I remember how I felt that my very first test results inadequately represented my abilities. When I was seven, my test scores grossly underrepresented me as a person. When I was seventeen, they gave the appearance of a perfection of which I am not, nor ever will be, capable.
I am glad that I am not the cretin suggested by my first test scores, nor am I the walking brain implied my SAT scores. I am simply the person I am, a person that I hope is more roundly depicted by this essay than by either set of numbers.
Oh, this is just the first time I've used LJ cut, so I hope it works...
The bright orange pencil grip slipped in my sweaty seven-year-old hand. From weeks of explanation and admonition, I had finally been convinced that my future, both tomorrow and forever, rested on my ability to fill in the circles for the next hour and a half. I licked my lips as I heard the first question: Which of these is not food? Let’s see… There’s a steak, a bowl of soup, a hamburger, and a stalk of corn growing in a field. Puzzled, I stared at the nutritious spread. Stumped, I finally decided on the steak. It did look a little rare for me.
The rest of the test, unfortunately, progressed in much the same manner. My confidence ebbing, I reached question twelve. (Which of these animals has the longest tail?) , Puzzled, I tried to measure the pictures with my index finger. As I bubbled in “C. Cat” instead of “D. Horse,” I began to fear that, if my future did indeed depend upon this block of testing, I would be living in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere. Not encouraged in the least, I finished the test and awaited my immediate eviction.
As the days passed, however, and no sheriff came to remove me from my bedroom, I decided that perhaps other methods to measure intelligence existed as well. Even if my test scores didn’t recommend my placement in the gifted program, I could still enjoy learning and be one of the “smart” kids. A 65th percentile COGAT score does not equal an IQ of twenty.
Fortunately, with the aid of some sensible teachers and a bit of relaxation on my part, my test scores (and my confidence) improved. As I have grown older, and standardized tests have progressed from tail-length differentiation to differential equations, my early lesson in the idiosyncrasies of standardized testing has aided me greatly. Recently, I had the opposite problem from that of my first testing experience. When I scored a 1600 on the SAT, I awaited my immediate exaltation much as I had earlier awaited eviction. Once again, I proved myself wrong. I had trouble, at first, when laud and honor were not heaped upon my most humble brow. But then I remember how I felt that my very first test results inadequately represented my abilities. When I was seven, my test scores grossly underrepresented me as a person. When I was seventeen, they gave the appearance of a perfection of which I am not, nor ever will be, capable.
I am glad that I am not the cretin suggested by my first test scores, nor am I the walking brain implied my SAT scores. I am simply the person I am, a person that I hope is more roundly depicted by this essay than by either set of numbers.
Oh, this is just the first time I've used LJ cut, so I hope it works...