The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

68 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 4 This love of studying I was getting from the ACT preparation started to leak into other parts of my life. My school subjects, from English to Entomology, started to seem more interesting, and putting more time into doing my chores seemed like no big deal. The biggest improvement was not in academics though, but in my walk with the Lord. Devotions used to be something that took too much effort and time to seemworthwhile. But when I developed my love of studying, the Bible didn’t appear as such a daunting task anymore. I began to really study the great book, and was surprised to learn how much I grew as a Christian because of it. Learning to study is one of the best things that ever happened to me. But even with this newfound work effort, I still was not going to college. My friends kept telling that I shouldn’t worry about the ACT and be happy with whatever score I got, but they didn’t have worry because their parents were paying all their college tuition, and all they had to do was get an above the 50 percentile. I, on the other hand, needed a 31 on my ACT to get the scholarship I needed; 26,000 dollars a year, or 104,000 dollars in total. This meant that if I wanted a score of 31, I had to be better than 97 percent of the students that took the test. I had two chances to take it, and if I didn’t get a 31 or above on either of those, I was not going to college. “Name?” “Gregg Mendel.” “You’ll be in room 247.” The receptionist at the ACT center walked me to my room. As we walked I passed room after room of teenagers just like me; sitting at desks waiting to start their test. Room 247 was at the very end of the hall way. When I got in there, I noticed it was far less packed then the other rooms. And then I noticed something else. There were no desks, only chairs. “Is this a waiting room?” I asked the receptionist. She merely grunted as she closed the door behind me. The next three hours were terrible. Through some horrible mix-up, the center had put me and a couple of other students in a room that wasn’t meant for testing. I had to balance the text booklet on the right arm of my chair, hold my scantron with my left, and balance my calculator in my lap. Needless to say I did not get the 31 that was required. Pencils down. A month passed, and my final chance to take the ACT had arrived. I arrived at Granville high school early in the morning to make sure I got a seat with an actual desk. As I sat in my chair, I started to get a little nervous. After this test, my life would go one