New PSAT schedule not beneficial for students and teachers

Rushing into first period at 12:10 p.m., students scrambled to take out all their materials for the first class of the day. But only 22 minutes later, they found themselves packing up for second period.

Roughly 500 students took the PSAT on the morning of Oct. 28. Exhausted after a pressure-packed three-and-a-half hour testing period, these students then had to endure another three hours of class.

In previous years, the PSAT was held on Saturday. But, this is the first year that College Board took away the chance to test on Saturday, and as a result, the school was forced to make  scheduling decisions.

The PSAT was held on Wednesday morning from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; students had a break for lunch, and then proceeded to 22-minute class periods from 12:10 p.m. to 3:14 p.m. In addition, Monday and Tuesday had Thursday and Friday schedules, respectively.

For me, up until Wednesday, the schedule that week was perfectly fine. With Monday as a block schedule, I didn’t have to stay up Sunday night to finish all seven periods of homework. Tuesday’s schedule also was convenient. Since I had multiple tests this week, having a tutorial on Tuesday was very helpful for me.

Those first two days were nice. The schedule change served as a “trial round” for the potential full block schedule, with both days being block schedule days. And personally, I’m all for it. Not having to stay up on Sunday night and having that extra tutorial on Tuesday made the beginning of the week a whole lot less painful.

But I definitely spoke too soon, because Wednesday was hell.

Wednesdays are supposed to have late starts. They are supposed to be my catch-up days, making up for all the sleep I lost on Monday and Tuesday. Honestly, waking up before 8 a.m. on Wednesdays should be illegal in this country.

I, however, woke up to my alarm at 7 a.m. that Wednesday, already regretting paying 30 dollars to take the stupid three-and-a-half hour test.

Luckily, it was “Would You Be My Friend If I Wore This?” Wednesday, so I didn’t even bother changing before going to school.

Testing, as always, was dreadful. Standardized testing… it doesn’t get much worse than standardized testing.

But then, it does!

After three-and-a-half hours of reading dreadful passages on posture and patriotism, you get another three hours of all seven of your classes! Oh, what fun!

Not to mention those 22-minute classes were almost useless; even our teachers admitted it. What can you do in 22 minutes? I can’t even edit an Instagram picture in 22 minutes, let alone do actual schoolwork.

Even more exhausting, there’s no break between the seven classes — only a short five minute passing. Going from chemistry teacher Janny Cahotol’s class to anywhere is hard as it is. But having to run from Cahotol to your locker and then to another classroom is cardio. Good thing I wore sweats.

The only two things I learned on Wednesday were — No. 1: there are free response portions to the PSAT math sections, and No. 2: even if I dress atrociously, my friends will still be my friends.

On the Thursday and Friday following the PSAT, I was also flooded with tests. As a sophomore, I felt like I was drowning. I can’t imagine how juniors taking the AP Chemistry midterm made it out alive.

Overall, I understand why the school revised the schedule to accommodate for the College Board’s changes. The school had to make that testing day a school day in order to reach the standard school days per year.

But still, I think the school should have a little more mercy on juniors (and sophomores). After taking the PSAT, the only thing I wanted to do was go home. For the sake of the juniors and sophomores, even sacrificing one of the Teacher Work Days would be better for our education. Also, if possible, it would nice if teachers, especially the junior teachers, could avoid scheduling their own tests for that week.

Yes, it was a hard week on everyone. But on the bright side, we all made it out alive. And as a reward for our hard work and dedication, the weekend arrived, blessing us with daylight savings and an extra hour of much-needed sleep.