SERGEI AND THE A.C.T.

Russians have a phrase "laughter through tears" and that is certainly what I experienced yesterday - or, perhaps, it was "laugh until you cry" (or "laugh to keep from crying?")....   In any case I was laughing and there were tears in my eyes as Sergei described his experience with the ACT tests which were given yesterday at school.  In my day we had to sign up for these, and spend a Saturday morning at it, but nowadays, apparently, they give them at school - and in the junior year.....  I suppose [hope] that is so students can see how they did and study or get an ACT tutor to prepare to take them again.

Poor Sergei; he experiences a lot of test anxiety.  Whether he would have been the same if he'd stayed in Russia, who can tell, but English is definitely his second language, even after nearly eight years here.  Just for example, he described the testing room as "pitch quiet" - so you see what I mean.  I don't doubt for a moment that he could do and learn anything he set his mind to, but things do come harder....especially things like scence, that rely so much on a very specific, learned vocabulary.  About the science portion he said, "I know I didn't do well on that! I didn't even understand the directions, let alone the questions!  It was like,  'How thick is the skin of a cell if you multiply it by Pi?'"  

Oh.  Well, was there English?  "Yes, and I didn't think it was so bad; we had thirty minutes and there was a story to read and questions.  I thought 'I can do that,' and I did it, but then I noticed that you had to turn the page and there were two more, just the same!"  He could not fathom how the other students could read that fast.   By this point I was just nodding..... Fortunately, I don't have aspirations for Sergei to attend Harvard or Yale.  He has the goal of a peaceful, satisfied life, being of service as an electrician, dry-waller, or computer tech - something like that.  His aspirations are simply to enjoy a calm, non-hectic life. 

That's probably why I was stil in the mood to laugh as he elaborated on the experience.  You need to know that Sergei does like calm, but that seems to translate into not doing well with extremes.  He has long known about himself and shared, that two things which make him very stressed and tense are "pitch quiet" and bright lights.  He's wondered previously if he wouldn't do a lot better in school if the lighting was more subdued - something about the bright, overhead lights and the glaring white paper affects his nerves, and (probably in some effort to escape) makes him sleepy and confused.  But, of course, since Americans see that as the optimal test-taking enviroment, that was how it was.  Another thing about Sergei is that last year we discovered that he has a congenital weakness in his spine.  We discovered it because he had so much pain during school.  If he has to sit too long in a hard chair he experiences a lot of discomfort. And the ACT required not just the everyday pain of sitting for an hour in a hard chair - but three hours!

I did my "motherly part" and made Hevel's breakfast cakes - but Sergei has a very hard time eating first thing in the morning.  He did eat one of them, but told me that in no time at all he was very hungry.  "Starving hungry" to be exact.  And the school did provide a break and gave the kids granola bars.  However.....by that time Sergei had been overcome by the worst torment of all - his contact lens slipped off his eyeball and back into his eye socket....where it was (in his words) "cutting up the back of my eye".   If the kids leave the testing room during the test everything is forfeit, so he had to stay put, rolling his eye around and trying to stick his finger up there to dislodge it. (Trust me, anyone who wears contacts will resonate with the misery of this experience.)  So, when given the choice between the needed snack and a chance to go to the bathroom and use a mirror,of course he made a beeline to the mirror.  And, though he worked feverishly trying to get the contact back in place - it was all to no avail.  Back he had to go to another hour and a half of supreme discomfort - until, he said, about ten minutes before he conclusion of the test, he yawned and the contact popped out onto the desk "all screwed up and out of shape".

So, all things considered, I'm not expecting any scholarships out of this.

NOTE:  I was contacted to see if I'd be willing to do some "product placement" on my blog.  I was hesitant, to tell the truth, because I strive for honesty and integity in this little gimpse into my soul.  But, I was assured that I wouldn't be asked to necessarily plug a product, or convolute what I want to say.  To my amazement, the first assignment was for an ACT tutor - so it turned out to be absolutely true in this instance, that I didn't even have to go back and revise anything to do that assignment.... so, we'll see!