The spring time for the students at PLHS is a happy one and as the second semester progresses they have spring and summer break to look forward to, but for juniors at PLHS this could not be any more different. The juniors have one big hurdle coming towards them in the beginning of April this year and that is the ACT. For many students all over the U.S. the ACT is something they spend hours upon hours agonizing over, they take prep classes and buy hundred dollar work books in order to ensure they get the best score possible, of course for a number of students it’s nothing more than just a standardized test but for the rest, they feel this test will determine their academic future.

A lot of people don’t even have a clear idea of what the ACT is and simply just know they should get a good score. 

“I just know it’s a test that reflects whether it gets you into a good school or not,” Junior Fe Lopez Luna said. 

The idea that you need a good ACT score to get into a good college is actually a very popular one and some even believe it doesn’t matter much after that.

“For getting me into the college I want, yes [the ACT will have a great effect] but for jobs not really,” Junior Mia Tran said. 

Regardless, students all seem to worry and are all preparing for how they will be studying and have planned exactly what they will do.

“To prepare for it I would set out goals to study for a specific amount of time to spend on each subject and review, I’m also taking a prep class,” Tran said.

While the ACT is mostly a test that students are expected to study for on their own, the school does try their best to also help students prepare and yet some students still feel the school could do more to help.

“I think I’m getting the preparation I need in only one of my classes but besides that a little more practice in other classes would help a lot more,” Lopez-Luna said. 

And a common pattern that we see become more apparent during the ACT season is more students suffering from anxiety over the test and their score. This problem has existed for students separate from the test for a while now but as the test approaches it seems to have heightened. 

“Hopefully it doesn’t affect [what I do after highschool] too much. I think a lot of it is giving me anxiety,” Lopez-Luna said.

Nevertheless as the juniors take their tests this April and as this chapter of their highschool careers close they will leave more experienced and have more advice to give to the future juniors of PLHS.

“Taking the courses and using the opportunities the schools give to manage your anxiety is all the advice I can give,” Lopez-Luna said.