22 March 2011

dear math, i have vanquished you

Happy World Water Day! Have you appreciated the water you have? We probably don't because it comes out of the faucets without a problem and we see it when it rains and when we shower. I see it even more because I swim. But imagine having to sit by a small pipe, waiting for a few drops to come out. Water is precious and we can't forget it.
This whole week we're having GHSGT, which is a stupid acronym for Georgia High School Graduation Test. Basically, Georgia got bored, and they thought that we love being tested on stupid things, so they made a test for it. And it's a whole week long. It's not like we also have to take the SATs, SAT subject tests, the ACT (perhaps with writing), EOCTs, AP tests, and other various tests and quizzes for our classes. No big deal.
Yesterday was the English section, and if you could read English and comprehend basic English language conventions, you were good. But today was different.
It was the math section.
Math is my worst friend ever. I'm bad at math. I hate math. Math should be abolished. But nevertheless, it was on the GHSGT, and I had to know it. Unless I wanted to be here for more than 4 years.
I was freaking out. That's a lot of pressure. It's like saying to a mildly-dyslexic person, "you have to write a really good essay right now or you won't pass this grade."
But I was prepared. I wore this necklace that is supposed to reduce stress - and clearly it worked - and my test proctor is a math teacher, so I felt like I was in good hands. That's always a good sign.
And the test wasn't event that hard. Half of the questions were common knowledge/sense and any normal, functioning human could answer them. It was great! No panic attack or anything! I even laughed at some of the questions. But silent, in-my-head laughing, because if I uttered any sounds my test would probably be invalidated and the whole room would be shut down and we would all be tried for cheating.
People always assume of the worst - of others, of themselves, of events. And I always walk into a math test saying "I'll probably fail." And that's not the attitude to have. I mean, if you have a math test and you didn't study or you don't even know what the test is about, I would not count on an A. But that's just me.
Don't doubt yourself all the time. Remember that you are good at a lot of things, and even though you might be intimidated, don't let that show.

1 comment:

  1. good blog today meg! made me smile and laugh as I read it. good advice too, for others as well as yourself.
    love,mom xoxo

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