26. Tests

Test

By Kate McGovern
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

Wake up in a cold sweat
Surrounded by textbooks and papers
Five o’clock in the morning
Studying for a test

Tests

By Abby Chretien
Hartford Memorial Middle School, Grade 8

Sometimes I wish
You were just testing me
That you really do like me
But you want to see if I’ll wait for you.
But it’s not a test.
I sure wish it was, though.
Because, honey,
I’d get an A.

Tests

By Ossia Dwyer
Hartford Memorial Middle School, Grade 7

“OK, class. This test is meant to test your knowledge of the theories. I hope you studied!” says my perky yet highly annoying teacher. Does she really care if we do well or not?
I was hoping for a snow day or a fever or malaria. I would have studied really hard and even maybe paid attention in class but the hottest guy sits right in front of me. I spent all yesterday night talking to him online. How was I supposed to study? Does my teacher not know anything about teenagers? Maybe I will be able to just conjure it up. OK, 2x+72>3x-12, solve for x. Is faking a seizure too dramatic? I know. I will fake a headache, then wander around the building. Oh great, the teacher noticed I wasn’t working. She is walking over here. Concentrate.
“An emergency has been reported in this building!! Please cease operation and leave, utilizing the nearest exit or fire exit!!” came onto the speakers, blasting our eardrums out. I ran out of the room as fast as I could. Anything to get out of that test and try to study or sleep.

Tests

By Ashley Bailey
Hartford Memorial Middle School, Grade 7

I look down. The numbers make no sense. (A = 2.5 so what is the answer to 2.65 x A = ?) What does that mean? I hate tests. Hate them, hate them, hate them. I get nervous and sweaty. My hand is shaking as I write the answer down. Great. I bet it’s wrong. Oh well, I keep going, and going, and going. Everything around me is blurry like a two-year-old came up and smudged the colors. The bell rings. I am almost done. Last question and then I am finished. Now I am relieved. No more to worry about…except the results of my test!

The Test

By Jonathan Slimovitch
Williston Central School, Grade 8

I walked into the half filled classroom, passing under the teacher’s scrutinizing glare that seemed to stare straight into my soul. I blinked, reminding myself of the long ordeal ahead. There would be no time for hesitation or panic.
The classroom in front of me was filled with desks. Each desk was empty save for a yellow number 2 pencil and a thick packet of creamy, white paper. There were two large groups of shiny wooden desks, with a thin open space that ran down the middle. Most of the desks on the right side had already been taken by students. I strode confidently towards the group of desks on the left, determined not to let others see my fear. I finally chose a desk near the front of the room. A girl sat down in the seat next to me. She flashed me a nervous smile as her eyes darted to the clock above the blackboard. We were all nervous.
The door slammed shut, making each of us jump. The teacher walked carefully to the front of the room, her cold piercing stare making those who made eye contact shudder in their seats. She stopped at the front of the room, turning to face us. Her words rang strong and clear in the otherwise silent room.
“You may begin.”
I quickly flipped over my test, ignoring the big black letters S-A-T on the top of the packet. I signed my name quickly with the number 2 pencil in the space provided, my eyes already darting down to the first question.
‘Name 4 of the main themes involved in Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.’ The question gave four possible answers; a, b, c, or d. I circled a, and moved onto the next problem. I moved through the first 10 pages of the test relatively easily, struggling slightly on the essay questions. We worked in silence for over an hour, scribbling away at our test packets under the teacher’s baleful glare.

Winter Serenity

By Nicole LeBlond
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

Out alone nothing but me and the cold
Crackling trees bend and snap in the frigid air surrounding me.
The trees stand tall and mighty towering several feet above me.
I glance and see the snowflakes dance.
As the snowflakes cascade toward the ground they form a jigsaw puzzle.
Each snowflake that falls is a new piece to the jigsaw puzzle of winter.
After a fall, a winter wonderland is complete.

The jigsaw reveals a completely new world of glistening wonders.

I zone back into my surroundings
I hum the melody of “What a Wonderful World” in my own world of
melancholia.
The air that embraces me is a frigid blanket of bitterness
My eardrums echo the songs of chickadees
My shoes sound the crunching of snow nestled tightly together,
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Long Gone

By Drew-Marie Dudley
Chelsea Public School, Grade 11

She told me to find her the day she left our small town
She didn't know where she was going
On a plane or bus or boat or car
She gave me a hug and told me that I would always know where she was
How was I to know if she didn't tell me what she had in mind?
We spent our entire childhood together
She was going to be gone like a perfect summer wind we become so fond of
What was I to do now that we were older and had to take our own ways separately?
She told me she loved me and climbed into her green Escort
And she was gone.

Testing

By Maddie Gilbert
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

SATs
Answer sheets passed out
Clammy hands nervously take them
Then the test books
Containing for many
The future of their education
With shaking hands
Filling in name, school code, age
Worried about doing something wrong
The long and tedious directions
That the teacher reads
Although everybody already knows what to do
From so much testing through the years
And finally it’s time to start.
The first section: the essay
A tense 25 minutes in which
Everybody constantly writes
No time for thinking, planning or stopping
Next section, either math or English
And another 7 sections like this follow
With a 5-minute break
And a one minute break
Just enough time to catch your thoughts and breath
Before diving back into another section
In the last sections
Focus wavers
But try to keep concentration
For these scores will influence colleges
Almost done, only a few more sections
Empty bubbles blur before tired eyes
And when everybody is done
We are finally released
And all wander
Dazed down the halls
Waiting for rides home
To eat, sleep and rest.

The True Test

By Blaise Gervais
Burlington High School, Grade 9

TEST TAKING

My pencil, sharpened
Stands at attention,
Ready to destroy any problems
that dare misbehave
by proving difficult, tricky,
or otherwise disagreeable.

My unruly hair has been pulled back-
for the moment;
The boisterous wisps are straight-jacketed,
Unable to cause any unwanted distraction.

My shoes are comfortable,
But my big right toe taps nervously,
Like an eager hummingbird batting its wings
In anticipation of a delicious flower.

My contacts are in their place,
Like the shiny tinfoil that envelops chocolates
I don’t really need them,
But it can never hurt to actually see the test.

The test gets passed out
Like a football player
before a game in the rain.
A crisp white uniform, impeccably clean.
What a pity it will soon be covered
With my countless muddy,
grass-stained answers.

I feel like I am throwing hits
at a heavy leather punching bag.
I clobber it with all my might,
Yet it just swings listlessly back and forth,
Like a corpse that has just been hung.

I come to a problem I don’t know the answer to
I feel like I am stranded in a vast desert
without any landmarks.
My friends all have maps
but that will lead straight to a detention- or worse.

Now my colorful, foil-wrapped eyes
seem to be developing a will of their own.
Pulling my head like a dog on a leash.
Embodied by my hands, my conscience holds my head in place,
Staring blankly at the little black marks;
Ants that are ruining my picnic.

Before I can rationalize, any stupid decisions
I put my name on each page
and PASS it forward.
Now I have PASSed the true test.

Purpledeep

By Bridget Iverson
Mount Mansfield Union High School, Grade 9

Bent over the typed
pages,
deciphering and
deciding:
what goes here?
Blanks stay
blank, questions
remain unanswered and he
dredges through a
purpledeep pool of the almost-known
(slipping through the too-wide
holes of his borrowed net).
Maybe it's--there--a
ripple, a swirl
of dark water,
barely out of reach--
slides through his reaching fingers
(mind)
grasping blindly at
nothing.

The Petrifying Test

By Phoebe Plank
Ferrisburgh Central School, Grade 6

The clock ticks…
My hands clench…
Am I running a fever?
My hand rises in a panic
The dull drab face
Of the teacher is
Instantly in mine
“Bathroom please?!”
Practically
Running to the restroom
Right up to the mirror
I’m looking at pale
Ghostly fingers
Touching a flushed face.
Reluctantly
my feet
Drag me back to my desk…
Petrified
I begin the TEST.

The Test

By Lindsay Swanson
Ferrisburgh Central School, Grade 6

I sit
waiting
heart thumping,
and soft,
clammy hands
clenched.
Foot taps
repeatedly
against the floor.
Papers are
passed.
Confusion masks
many faces.
And then,
an idea!
Hand shoots up…
“Um, stomach ache?”

Test

By Eli Millman
Fairfield Center School, Grade 8

Test my brain
Test my knowledge

See if I know
See if I care

Check my progress
Check my mistakes

Hand back my results
Hand back my fate

Am I any smarter?
Am I more aware?

Does this really help me?
And do I really care?

The Test

By Briana Patten
Mount St. Joseph Academy, Grade 9

Sweat rolls slowly down my forehead.
This test is important.
I've been struggling for an hour on it.
Every question is like an impossible journey to figure out an unknown.
This test is important.
I tap my pencil in a steady rhythm against my wooden desk. Maybe it will give me some inspiration for an answer, but I doubt it.
"Ten minutes left," a teacher announces, and I'm not even close to being finished.
This test is important.
The other kids seem to be in my same situation, some holding their heads in their hands, others staring off into space, mouths slightly ajar.
Can't this just be over? The bell rings, and my prayers are answered.
I wipe my forehead and walk out of the room.
This test was important.

Tests

By Katelyn Robertello
Mount St. Joseph Academy, Grade 9

As you walk in to class and sit down at your desk, your teacher comes in and tells you to take out a piece of paper and a pen. You look around and you can feel your heart start to race. You try to think of what you have learned in the past week. You try to look at your notes one more time before you take the test. You put your notes away as your teacher passes out your test. OH NO! You look at the test. "What is this?" you ask yourself. "Is it French, oh wait is it math?" You start your first question. You think your test will be a mess but surprisingly it was easy. As you hand in your test and walk away you think that you aced that test!