Allison+C’s+OpEd+Article


 * An Ode to Farch**



Farch. Everyone knows what Farch is: that period during February and March with absolutely no break from school. Everyone talks about it and warns you months ahead that it’s coming. But this year, I’ve realized that Farch is much more than never-ending days of everything school. Farch is a creature. It sucks any life that you had, any good memories, enjoyable times, and overall well-being and happiness, out of you.

It is a time of maximum stress. For me, it has been a time of non-stop doing. I cannot tell you the last time I had a moment for myself, to do something that I actually wanted to do. I haven’t gotten to enjoy a real lunch at school in over three weeks because I’ve been so busy. I actually don’t even have real social interactions anymore and when I do, they actually seem slightly awkward because I’m not used to talking with an actual human being. I’m used to talking to a computer or a worksheet.

Another joy of Farch is the SAT. I took the SAT yesterday. I still have not been able to get rid of the excruciating headache that assumed my brain over 24 hours ago. Thanks to the SAT, I was bed-ridden yesterday with no motivation to do anything but watch Gossip Girl and slip inside of the life of Blair Waldorf, at least pretending I don’t have to deal with the torture that is my life now. Let me tell you something about the SAT: It is absolutely pointless. In fact, in the words of my SAT prep book that I spent studying after all my hours of homework, all for still I’m sure a mediocre score on the actual test, “All the SAT really measures is how well you take the SAT. It does //not// reveal how smart or how good a person you are.” Thank you Princeton Review, I’m glad to know that a 5 hour, yes, 5 hour test of absolute torture does not measure basically anything about me but is pretty much going to be the deciding factor of whether I actually get into a college I want to go to or one that will lead me nowhere.

I should be absolutely overjoyed with excitement because of the fact that in eight days I will be going to New York, which is my absolute favorite place of anywhere in the entire world. But no, all I can think about is the stress that will consume me when I’m home again, having missed four days of school. My birthday is in 21 days, and I would be excited about that too, if I had any friends any more after spending all my time with Thomas Bailey and the computer.

Basically, life was a lot better before junior year Farch took ahold of me. I know everyone writes this about school or the SAT but I just want to be clear that because of Farch, I am now a different person. I went from being an absolutely positive, optimistic, and happy person to someone who dreads every next moment. I am depressed, saddened, ashamed, stressed, nervous and what else? OVER IT.