Options by Olivia

Options by Olivia - January 2015 Scholarship Essay

A student sits down to take a test. She pulls out her pencil and waits for the papers to arrive. As she receives her test shes closes her eyes and tells herself, "You studied all week for this, you can do it." She looks down at her test anxiously, all the letters of multiple choice and those blank spaces of free response questions scare her. Biting the end of her pencil she begins.

A test should not be what judges every student's learning and intelligence. Some students who work hours on end every week to remember the simplest things on command are the students failing to get anything better than a C on a test. Pulling answers out of their brains when tests ask for information on very specific material is very difficult for some students. If they are such as myself, they end up wondering whether it is more important to remember the little specifics or the greater picture. If learning is now about remembering details more than what effect the topic has on society then I am going to struggle. Ask me to analyze how this is beneficial or detrimental to society and I have it in the bag. But ask me what time and date and where the court case was held, well I have a harder time pulling that out of my head. Maybe it is a difference of opinion, but my brain focuses on different aspects of a topic than tests seem too.
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She turns the page to look at the next set of questions. Her stomach turns with nerves. Maybe its best to come back to this later. Oh wait, I know that name, she thinks. Hold on what year did he institute...yes oh I studied this, hold on it'll come to me. What year...what year, shoot. I don't know, I know why he did it. But I don't know what year, I suppose I'll have to guess, she says to herself.

In society, the world is filled with options. People of society choose what they believe is the best option to benefit them personally. They do this in hopes that their choice will make them more successful. The reason these choices exist is that not everyone is the same, not everyone needs the same thing. Likewise not everyone learns the same way, so not everyone should be tested on their learning the same way. In order for students to be more successful, there should be more options. Plenty of students would love to always take tests because that is what fits their learning style more accurately. But some students find their success through writing or a more creative process that allows them to find out the greater meaning and have a higher understanding of a topic. Neither way is specifically right or wrong, but one is much more respected than the other.
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She stares up at the ceiling, its the only safe place to look when you’re thinking, else they think you are cheating. Back down at the page, 3 open ended questions unanswered. She knows she studied them, but her mind draws a complete blank. The professor gave advice on studying the other week, she did everything it said, yet here we still are. 6 multiple choice guesses and 3 open ended guesses and 3 open ended unanswered questions. It’s not going to get better, might as well turn the test in and hope for another way to prove her learning and understanding. She, this girl, is me. This is where I walk back to my dorm, find out my score and have my friends respond in disbelief. They’re in disbelief because I spent the week before explaining why these topics are so important and have such a great effect on society. But in the test, the atmosphere, the pressure, I forgot the specifics. Next, I call my parents and apologize again, telling them that I really did study and I really tried my best. Sadly, the class simply is not set up to help me succeed.

So, I hope my professor knows that I’m smart, that I really am trying, that it took everything in me to get a C on the last test. But had he offered the option to prepare an essay for the day of the test and not take the test or take a smaller portion, then he would see my full potential. My professor would know that I understand the greater meaning of this topic and why it’s so important for us to study. So I ask my professor and professors all over, give your students options. Life is full of them and there’s nothing that says education cannot have them too. These options may be the difference between success and failure. Utilise people’s skills, if they’re good at tests, let them take tests. If they are good at writing to display their learning, let them write and you may be amazed at the intelligence you overlooked at first. In a world of options, an age options, nothing is stopping our learning from having options, but a professor here and there, so please, help me be successful.