At the start of this summer, I was forced to start the arduous task of studying for the ACT. Despite my reluctance to begin the process, I understood how important it was to my future. It was quickly evident that this wasn’t going to be like any other test I had ever taken, and I was going to have to adapt to this new style. I originally thought it was impossible to learn something beyond skills specific to the ACT but as it turns out, some of the advice I got about taking the ACT can also be applied to daily life.

Focus On What’s Important, Not On What Is Not

Whenever I get a question wrong, the first thing my tutor usually says, “What were you focusing on?” He was usually quick to point out that I had spent too much time worrying about a part of the question that was the same in every answer rather than the important information. Sometimes we get overwhelmed by all the different aspects of a task or problem that it is difficult to grasp what is actually significant. You may be asking, just as I have a thousand times, how do you know what is the right and wrong things to focus on? I think if I knew the answer, I would not still be studying for the ACT but nonetheless I believe that filtering out the unnecessary information is a good place to start. Just like in this test, the solution to many tasks and problems are often masked by copious amounts of details, making it hard to see the important aspects. An important skill to learn is the ability to filter what is important and know what information is just given to throw you off.  Life can seem overwhelming if you get too caught up in trivial issues, so it is often necessary to take a step back and consider how you are looking at the problem.

Don’t Get Discouraged If You Do Poorly The First Time

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. As inspiring as this incredibly cliché phrase sounds, I am very aware of how discouraging it is to hear if you spent months working on one specific skill with few results. One score, especially if it is an earlier attempts, will not dictate the end result, and although it can often be difficult for me to image how it is possible to reach my desired score, it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. There have been many times when I have contemplated giving up because not only is my score less than optimal, but it continues to go down. I occasionally fear that if I continue to practice, I will end up getting a zero. You will have hopefully noticed by this point in your life how important perseverance is, and if you haven’t, you have probably missed every cheesy self-help pamphlet and inspirational speech ever. My ability to persevere is tested every time I take a practice test or study my mistakes, but it is this skill that made it possible to continue despite an obnoxious amount of bad scores.

Don’t Compare Yourself To Others

While there are always the occasional few who score in the high 30s on their first time, most us are not quite as lucky. It is easy to say that those people are smarter than you but in reality, everyone reacts to the test differently. No matter how many times I have been told that test taking is not a natural skill, it doesn’t make it any easier when I see the varying levels of effort people have to put in to attain the same score. This is equally true in most facets of life. I have to constantly remind myself that the skills another person possesses doesn’t make them a better person. It is often crippling to be surrounded by such amazing people who don’t seems to have any faults, but everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Timing Is Everything

No matter how hard I work to stay within the strict time limits set by my tutor for each section, time always seems to allude me. Timing is a huge aspect of this test which is unfortunate because the lack of it, usually causes me to panic and make unnecessary errors. Having a sense of time and your ability to answer questions efficiently are necessary to mastering this test as well as many aspects of life. Procrastination seems to plague us all but the key is finding ways to utilize your time despite your bad tendencies.