By Genevieve Voigt

Four hours of thinking, writing and trying to focus. Then, weeks of waiting to see if it was worth it.
When students receive their ACT, AP and SAT test scores, it can determine their futures — good or bad.
Junior Miranda Pratt was nervous before getting back an AP test score. When she got a five, the highest possible score, she tweeted about it.
“I got a five and I’m pretty sure I just had a legit panic attack,” Pratt tweeted.
As other students find their scores, the excitement grows. Some peers receive disappointments, but others have reasons to celebrate.
“I was happy with it,” Pratt said. “It was higher than what I was expecting.”
Other students decide to publicize their scores for the same reasons.
Senior Lilly Ruttinger also tweeted an exciting test score. After receiving a composite score of 30 on the ACT, she posted a picture of her results.
“I was excited, because I thought I did pretty well,” Ruttinger said. “I actually did better than I expected.”
The desire to share accomplishments is not hard to understand. However, the definition of an accomplishment is different for everyone.
Everyone has unique dreams and goals, and each student has an individual score they want or need. History teacher Valerie Schrag understands that students have different goals.
“For somebody, a 22 on the ACT is fantastic. For somebody else, it’s a 34,” Schrag said. “That doesn’t make one score worth any less than the other, because for each individual, it means a lot.”
Schrag never allows students in her class to talk about test scores. She believes the score itself is not what students should celebrate.
The real success, Schrag says, is the attempt.
“That’s what’s important: recognizing the accomplishment, because the accomplishment is not necessarily the score on anything,” Schrag said. “It’s the fact of doing, and that’s what you celebrate.”
Senior Katie Gaches has mixed feelings about peers posting scores. For some, she knows it’s a big success, and she’s excited for them.
Sometimes, a score isn’t as high as others, but the student is still thrilled. After seeing higher scores, it can be awkward.
“Sometimes, if I know that the person worked really, really hard for it, I’m definitely excited for them,” Gaches said. “Sometimes it makes my feel uncomfortable, because somebody posted something that they’re really happy about.”
Test scores are an individual measurement, and sharing them can be controversial.
Gaches believes that results are personal.
“I don’t want to be compared to other people,” Gaches said.
After students begin sharing scores, there is pressure for everyone to share their scores.
Ruttinger said that everyone was doing it when she tweeted hers.
Schrag understands the pressure to follow the lead of peers and enforces a strict rule in her classroom: don’t talk about test scores.
This rule stops the discomfort of peer pressure and reminds students that scores are personal.
“It’s their business, and I don’t want any person to be pressured to share their score when they’re not comfortable doing that,” Schrag said. “Don’t feel the pressure that you need to share whatever scores, because it’s your business. It’s nobody else’s. It’s what gets you into college. It shows your performance. And if you did great, fantastic. And if you didn’t, fantastic.”