I race home straight after 3:10 dismissal and scoop up my SAT prep book waiting on my kitchen counter. On my 25 minute drive to my Get Smarter Prep tutor I run through the 48 possible definitions I could be tested over that day. Like many students from Sion, Rockhurst and St. Teresa’s Academy who have signed the wall within the tutoring facility, I am looking to get the best possible score I can on the SAT. However, unlike most students, I am a senior and have never taken an official test. Ever.

This long time procrastination battle began early junior year. When everyone else was preparing to take their first jab at the test, I ignored its looming presence and decided that I would take it in June. This would give me plenty of time to prep and I certainly didn’t need a tutor. I, after all, had managed to take honors and AP courses the last three years and could handle the process of getting into college.

That morning of June 9, I awake not to the ring of my alarm clock, but to the panicked scream of my mother. The night before I had laid out my clothes, sharpened my pencils and replaced the batteries in my calculator. I was ready to brave my first ACT except for the fact that I had forgotten to turn on the alarm on my phone. Well, there goes at least 50 bucks down the drain and my last chance to take the test before senior year.

So now it’s October of my senior year, and I am sifting through the applications of multiple schools trying to find the information that I can actually fill in. Name, date of birth and address I fill out with ease. But the blank space where my ACT or SAT scores are supposed to be still remain blank.

So why am I not completely bald from pulling out my hair out of stress? Although my methods have been rather unorthodox, I know I will go to college next year.

I broke down and got a tutor that meets every Thursday leading up to the Nov 3 SAT. Although I will be cutting it close, I will be able to send in my applications for the colleges I am interested in by the Dec. 1 deadline. Yes, I am extremely jealous of my fellow classmates who can say that they are finished taking the ACT and SAT and have already been accepted into the school of their choice. This is the path I chose, and I must embrace it.

I am not suggesting anyone try my basically last minute effort to get into college, but I just want to say its doable. If you sense yourself heading down the same procrastination path as me, take a minute and say “What do I want to be doing on my Friday nights senior year?” If this includes going to bed early in anticipation of a test the next morning, then by all means continue on. But if you want to go to those Rockhurst games without the daunting thought of college in your head, I would start to pick up the pace.

Now, I know that I am probably the only senior who is this far behind in their college search, and that I represent an extreme. If you are reading this and have taken the ACT three times and you haven’t gotten your ideal score, I hope this makes you laugh. I hope that you can feel better about your scores knowing that you’re not the girl who doesn’t have any at all.