On the day of the SAT

It was nineteen degrees outside as she got into the defrosting car. The air was so cold she could see her breath coming out in little white puffs of air. She coughed into her cold hands and sighed sadly. A severe chest cold took hold of her the week before and she was still recovering. But she felt confident enough to still go through with the test. She entered the school doors; arms overflowing with the necessary equipment:
Two No. 2 pencils…check!
Scientific calculator…check!
Admission ticket…check!

The classroom was filled with nearly fifty other students from various schools around the county. They spoke loudly with one another. The girls hugged each other and laughed together; their cares seemingly far away. Finally the time had come. The students were ushered into a small library. When they took their seats they glanced down at the daunting test booklets laid out before them. The once happy faces were now stricken with fear.

The proctor (who was in her late sixties) made it apparent almost as soon as the students entered the room that she did NOT like teenagers. Her voice, shrill and witch-like, pierced through the noisy chatter: “No talking!” A hush fell over the room almost instantly. She explained the test rules as if speaking to juvenile delinquents. A few of the cockier students chuckled at her demeanor but the rest folded their hands on their desks like good little children.

The timer was set and the testing began! Three hours had been laid aside to quiz the students with confusing multiple questions and impossible math equations.

The Reading Comprehension was helpful with its overly vague questions like this one:

In Lines 17-39 (depicting…humbling), did the author mean:
a) obnoxious
b) he wanted to eat ice cream
c) his mother and father didn’t approve of his relationship with her
d) the title of this section should be…

Other sections were just as puzzling. They had five minute breaks every two sections. Their proctor shouted at them during the breaks reminding them of ridiculous rules: “Don’t talk with each other! No water bottles in the testing room! Your scores will be canceled if you have any answers written inside any food wrappers or bottle labels!” Bathroom breaks were extremely short and "taking a breather" was nearly unacceptable. But soon they all returned to their seats and began testing once more.

“You have five minutes!” shouted the proctor. She startled some of the students out of their chairs. Three hours seemed more like days but now there was just five more minutes. The old crone paraded around their tables watching their every move. Suddenly her stopwatch beeped softly. It could barely be heard at first. The students raised their heads and looked at their jailer through bloodshot eyes. She gave them a curt nod of the head, announcing wordlessly that it was all over. The students gathered up their pencils and calculators and nearly ran outside the classroom; they were so relieved. No more studying, no more practice tests, no more filling in the circles on the answer sheets; the test was over and they were free!

The girl from the beginning of our story finished her test on time. She coughed only once during the test. Her nose had stopped running and she was actually feeling better. Her head however, was swimming with evaluations and although she couldn’t see straight, a sudden calm overtook her. Whether or not her scores were good or bad she had done her best. And knowing that made her feel just fine.