In front you lie the 215 questions that decide your financial, academic, social, and scholastic future as you transcend the high school experience and become a college student.

For many, the ACT examination is one of the most troubling and unsettling experiences of their entire scholarly career. Taken by students across the nation, the test is rarely an enjoyable experience.

More annoying than the exam itself is the fact that it is so discerning in the future of your life, meaning this three-hour-long examination that you take when you are 16 could greatly impact what you do late into your 60s as a working adult.

But the ACT isn’t even the only test that students take that decides their future. Its distant cousin, the SAT, terrorizes students on the East and West coasts annually.

Standardized testing is notably the most commonly despised part of students’ lives. However, it remains one of the only ways of taking statistical data on the educational advancement of large groups of students and the effectiveness of the classes given to these students, whether they directly or indirectly provide ACT readiness.

Picture this: you’ve taken the ACT twice, the second time receiving a score that brutally matches the one you received the time before. You sit down in a converted classroom, leaving your worldly belongings behind except for a number-2 pencil, a calculator, and whatever else the federation has allowed you to take with you.

Ready to tackle your third and, potentially, final ACT exam, you start whizzing through questions and, after answering nearly every single one correctly, you exude confidence on the way out of that sniffling, coughing, sneezing, moaning, and groaning classroom that houses students of all walks of life, from seniors sneaking in their last ACT to freshmen getting their start early.

Ready for the kicker? You open your results two weeks later on a rainy, muddy Tuesday, and BANG! Guess what? You, the student who studied hard to take this test for a third time and paid out-of-pocket to do better, have received the EXACT SAME SCORE! Congratulations, you are the definition of consistency – but that doesn’t do you any good, does it?

These tests are both a blessing and a curse. It isn’t a coincidence that students at Millard North struggle through hours of John Baylor prep videos, as his message is accurate – in small, point-by-point jumps, your ACT score can go from meaningless to life-changing and can make colleges go from demanding multiple tens of thousands of dollars per semester to, for the smart bunch, paying all or more of your tuition, housing, and even dining expenses.

The struggle with such an exam comes for students seeking to make marginal score increases above the 32 score range. Here, even 1 question can set you back in a major way. In fact, for students who seek a 34 or above, missing even 1 or2 questions per section of the exam can prove their efforts futile, with score drops of entire points happening with even one point difference.

This enormous drop that commonly happens is one of the most discouraging parts of taking such a nationally important exam. With students struggling over 1-point differences that can financially better their lives, there is nothing but resentment for an exam gone wrong or a classroom filled with allergy-stricken students who ceaselessly sniff and sneeze their way through the exams.

Regardless, the ACT remains the most important exam for students for another reason – the social and financial future it provides for a young student. The unfortunate truth of this tradeoff, though, is that this financial future comes at the expense of the massive financial burden that is college, dormitory life, apartment living, and everything in between.

The youthful mind of a rowdy high school student is lax when it comes to the true depth of adult life. Ask any senior their biggest fear right now and they’ll tell you a myriad of things – you’ll notice a pattern that alludes to the burden of adulthood.

Where this all ties into the ACT is that many students do not get the opportunity to retake this exam, but still desire a college degree or want to pursue schooling that requires a higher ACT score. A split-second decision in junior year to sleep through the ACT study sessions provided by the school could very well be the distinguishing factor between a student receiving the education of their dreams and working in a gas station.

Throughout high school, it is common to ignore the future; after all, your current situation is more fun! You have a basketball game to get dolled up for, a school dance to get a suit for, or another school event, person, test, assignment, or other aspect of high school to look forward to, not the rapidly approaching future that entails adulthood and adult responsibility.

Regardless of what draws your attention in your day-to-day life, many high school students will tell you the ACT exam is the bane of their existence. This test, which is offered 28 times in a 4-year span to teenagers around the United States, defines just how far you can take your education and social experience post-graduation,  whether you like it or not.