Many students have been experiencing difficulty with trying to take their SATs and/ or ACTs, as they have been getting cancelled due to the pandemic. The precautions that are being taken by testing centers have caused countless to close or reduce their capacity of students in classrooms. This leaves students empty-handed with no score for the test they had been diligently studying for. The wait to test has begun to seem unending.

As the holiday season is approaching, COVID-19 numbers are on the rise with 181,196 new cases just on November 13, 2020. These rising numbers increase the possibility of more testing centers closing in the month of December. Because there are a limited number of dates on which these tests are administered, this issue has become a huge concern for students as they wait in nervousness of their test centers closing. Even though this wait wastes time, it also affects the student’s mental health.

According to Victoria Choi, a junior from Troy High School, she says, “I was definitely disappointed when the SAT subject tests got cancelled in June because I felt like I was ready to take it during that time.” The ongoing cancellation of tests is impacting students mentally, influencing them to feel hopeless and devastated. As many of these students have studied months for that one day to test, the test centers’ closure made them feel as if they had wasted their time. Not only did this give students a huge feeling of disappointment, but it also caused them to feel tired and unpassionate about their studies.

Sadly, to state the facts, nothing can be done. Things cannot change as the ongoing pandemic requires the closure of test centers and schools. However, Daniel Kong, a junior at Sunny Hills High School, believes that solutions can be made such as, “...taking [the] SATs in a small private high school…[and testing at] several open test centers in nearby states.” Just as he said, travelling to nearby states or finding a low capacity test center can definitely allow students to take their tests. Recently, many students have been driving or flying to neighboring states such as Nevada, Arizona, or Utah to take their tests. Even though this may seem abnormal, these solutions can help students take their tests and obtain their desired scores.

This pandemic has had a significant influence on innumerable issues including everyday lives and jobs, but also testing for students. In these tough times, the best students can do is persevere through their studies or at the least until their test to truly accomplish their goals.

<Erin Choi / Orange Lutheran 11th Grade>