Newsday
Published April 13, 2007
by Rachel Kaufman

I loathe tests. There’s something about the classroom that turns menacing on exam day, something I’ve noticed since my days in Stride Rite sneakers and stirrup pants. What I fear isn’t struggling for the answers, it’s finding them too quickly.

Two things can happen after you finish a test first, if you, like me, belong to the ranks of the chronically under-confident. You can worry:
A) If everyone else is still working, you must have done something wrong, or
B) If you finish first, you will forever be branded a teacher’s pet.
Neither choice is appetizing. I clutch my test in hand, scanning my peers to see if anyone is almost done. I look out the window, tapping my feet.

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