I Know How You Feel

One thing really irks me. Want to know what that is? Well, it concerns the phrase "I know how you feel." I don't really have a problem with this phrase, but the response it recieves. A lot of the time the response comes back as "No, you don't know how I feel."

Everyone wants to think that they are someone special. We all are unique in every aspect of our lives. Only I have my sort of problems. Only I have my sort of succesess. Only I have whatever. Well guess what? With some billion people on Earth, I'm pretty sure that someone else has your problem too. Since when did you become so different from everybody else that no one can understand what you are going through? Other people have your problem too.

However, I guess that no one can always know how you feel. In this case, it's the thought that counts. At least someone is listening to your problems. By talking about your problems, you are inadverdantly placing a small burden on them. Even though you are the one with a problem right now, whoever you are talking to is developing a tiny problem too. There is no need to backlash against them. They are the ones helping you out.

If you don't want to appreciate what is being said for comfort, then don't dump your problems on someone else in the first place. It's always better to talk about your problems, but if it gets to a point that you develop more problems just by talking about old ones, it's time to stop. So stop. And give me 10.

Oh, and I'm not directing this at anybody. I just like to rant.

SATan's Essay

The essay section of the new SAT is not only inappropriate for a SAT type of test, it is plain lunacy. I'm not going to give you some Leland Chargers Tribune crap about this. I'm going to give you what I believe everyone else should believe.

The SAT is supposed to measure a student's knowledge of basic math and reading. These are areas of knowledge that can be accurately measured. There is only one right answer in math, and generally one best answer on the verbal sections. The essay portion of the test does not fit into the black and white area of right and wrong. There are too many factors that go into determining an essay's score to have this score truly mean anything. A student, such as myself, should not have to suffer because one of these factors went awry.

Essays have to be written in a mere 25 minutes. This is not adequate time for a true essay to be completed. Sure, some people are capable of churning out a 25 minute piece, but with more time, others may be able to write a better essay then the first person. Has speed become so embedded in our every day lives that essays must be scribbled out with minimal thought? Do you see college applications being written in 25 minutes? Or even double that, 50 minutes? A good essay needs time to mature. Time is needed so the essay can be cleaned up, proofread, added to, and finalized.

Collegeboard acknowledges that they are not looking for a finalized essay. They know that with the time given, only a rough draft essay is feasible. Well, here comes the major flaw. Hey! Rough drafts are not supposed to be graded! That’s why they are rough drafts in the first place. Authors are not judged on their preliminary work, so why should students be judged on their rough drafts?

The SAT score is a major part of determining whether or not you get into the college you want. Why should your future be decided on a rough draft? Don't colleges want to know what you are capable of doing, not what you can do in 25 minutes? They aren't expecting you to do all your college work in 25 minutes are they? Or maybe they see a future in people who write fast?

And then comes along the fact that no two graders grade alike. Sure, they have a rubric and are trained on how to grade. And Collegeboard, being smarter than I gave them credit for, has two graders with a third grader coming in if scores differ too much. But! But! But don't tell me that it isn't possible for one grader to give a score of say, 4 and the other grader giving a score of 5. Maybe you really deserved two 4's. Or maybe two 5's. But who knows? Essays are too hard to grade. Since when does a humorous essay earn extra points on an essay? People are fickle. They might hate me just because of my handwriting or superior, but distinct, writing style.

Now I'm not saying that I have a solution to this problem. The only thing I can come up with is to have everyone who takes the SAT to send hate mail to SAT HQ. And make sure that they're all Howlers ( Harry Potter allusion right there, oo i'm learning!). Also, I'm not griping because I received a near 0 score on my essay. I just think it’s wrong. Comma. Oops, I mean period.

Purpose of this Blog

The purpose of this blog is to share my thoughts. Not the Xanga ones, but my real ones. Anyone can comment without registering, although I don't think many people will. I'll get a real post in later.