My SAT Struggle by Devon

My SAT Struggle by Devon - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

Usually, one’s junior year of high school stresses students because of the heaviest workload, of their academic careers; it is a year students remember with either great hatred or as a vague haze. For me, my sophomore year was the most anxiety-inducing.
After a freshman year full of adjusting to a new place and strange people for the second time in as many years, my father decided to start my college search early as a reminder and as an encouragement to me: there is life after high school. The college search was enjoyable and I learned much about myself in the process of finding what sort of education fit me best and what environment I could grow most in. However, it was not the most radical change that I was met with during tenth grade. In addition to searching for schools earlier than most students, I also began preparing for the SAT, the test I was most worried about because of its importance to my college applications.
I began in December, using an internet service that was the scourge of my life at the time. Nearly every day for five months, I toiled in our spare bedroom. I desperately tried to balance the excessive amounts of school-projects, the math homework it took me hours to understand, and the time-consuming SAT sections, along with my semblance of a social life. It was a lot to balance. I took practice SAT after practice SAT, my Saturdays no longer my own at any point. I continued to feel discouraged and encouraged in almost equal amounts as I strove for a score over the elusive 1400. From January to May I struggled to raise my unimpressive math score while working as hard as I always have to maintain my grade average and still be a supportive friend to everyone I had grown to love at my new school.
After many tears and many days, I finally took the SAT.
I did not make the score I wanted.
It was not until the third time I took the SAT that I truly felt at peace with my score.
However, those formative months pressed and stressed me until I reached the other side of the all-encompassing challenge. I learned to manage my time and how long I could focus. I listened to my body and allowed it rest when it needed it and discovered when I am at my peak performance, and when I had my greatest energy dips. The man running the Internet SAT program was very insistent on the healing wonders of water and puppy videos, which improved my physical and emotional well-being. If I did not go through that long semester, I would not be the same person I am now, one who knows myself better than I ever did as a freshman and who has a stronger faith and better handle on work strategies than before.