SAT, Second Time Around

To the Editor:

Some friends called me crazy recently, but that didn’t stop me from registering for the “New” SAT test on March 12. It would be the second time for me to confront the dreaded standardized “Scholastic Attitude Test” as we used to refer to it back then…

“Back then” means 1964, when I took the SATs for the first time on a chilly October morning in the modest New Jersey suburb where I grew up. But that was then and this is now. Some folks who knew where I was heading last Saturday asked, “Why on earth would you do this at your age?” One friend posited that maybe I was curious about how many brain cells I’ve lost in the past 40 years…then suggested that the decision even to take the test validated a substantial reduction.

Truth is, the introduction of the “New” SAT piqued my interest over a year ago when I first heard about the proposed revisions, i.e., the elimination of the notorious and, in my opinion, rather archaic analogies, and the addition of an on-demand essay, the inclusion of which seems not only sensible, but also utilitarian.

As a writer, tutor, and former English teacher, I am excited by the plethora of attention being given to critical reading as well as the value being placed on the need to improve written communication skills. As intimidating as it may seem to the 300,000-plus students across the country who signed up for this test, I feel these changes portend significant long-range benefits for those on many different career paths. Facing a new challenge always offers the opportunity to learn something about oneself, be it through parenting, teaching, performing an act of kindness, or meditating on a mountaintop. For this SAT, perhaps staring at a blank page with a time limit may result in an epiphany for some tenacious soul.

I also believe that if I intend to teach such skills and techniques to members of this generation, I should “walk a mile in their moccasins” so to speak. At 8 am Saturday, however, I would’ve had to have walked in their “galoshes” given the sloppy snow which accumulated overnight. Unlike Hartford and New Haven, who announced postponement of the exam on local TV stations, somehow Danbury didn’t get the word out in time. I was in the long line of cars being diverted from the entrance to Danbury High School by bright orange cones, flanked by students and adults, bundled up and brandishing signs which read, “Rescheduled: April 2.”

I still plan to be with the first group to take this new SAT, to share the entire experience, from anxiety through exhaustion, to sit in the same room with the students…but, I like them, I can wait.

So, what did I learn from this “False StArT?” To be honest, when it comes to tests, one can appreciate a “snow day” at any age. By the way, how many SAT vocabulary words did you recognize above? Stay tuned…

Michael Luzzi

173 Boggs Hill, Newtown                                            March 16, 2005