If you’re taking the ACT test tomorrow, don’t panic. Here is how you can be in the right mindset to kill it on Saturday. Enter the mindset of the ACT Ninja!
Master of Weaponry
Content knowledge? Check! Strategies? Check! Confidence? Check! Calculator with batteries? Check! The heavy studying should be out of the way by now. All that remains is to trust that you’ve worked as hard as you can and have the tools you need to tackle this test.
Zen-like Calm
Some jitters are good to keep the adrenaline pumping as you’re taking the test. Before the test, however, try to ease your nerves. “How,” you ask? Simple! Visualize what you will do on the actual test day. This might sound silly but it really does help! Ready? Here we go!
Picture yourself arriving at the test center a little early. You are certain that you have your admission ticket, ID card, pencils, digital watch, and calculator because you packed them the night before. You sign in and find a seat. You take out your pencils and calculator, put your watch on your wrist, and put everything else under your seat. Everyone settles in and the proctor reads the long list of instructions. Later, s/he starts the timer or writes the end time for the first section. You are working at a good pace as you move through each section. You might have a moment of panic here and there, but overall you can feel that the work you put into preparing for the test is paying off now. Before you know it the test is over and you breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Strength
To keep up your strength you will need to eat. What is the magical meal you can eat that will give you a 36 on the test guaranteed? Unfortunately, that meal does not exist. However, you can eat in a way that will put you in the best possible performance shape for the test. Here are the rules:
• Eat a well-balanced dinner the night before the test.
• Eat a breakfast the morning of the test that includes protein. You need long-term fuel!
• Don’t eat a sugary or heavy breakfast that will make you crash.
• Bring a snack with you to the test—something healthy and substantial, like a Clif bar. It’s going to be a long morning and you’ll want to refuel during your break.
Agility
To keep your stamina you need mental acuity during the test. This means you need to get some decent sleep the night before the test. Is this the most obvious advice ever given? Well, maybe…but it’s just that important.
One more piece of sleep advice: don’t try to go to bed at 6:30pm or anything crazy. Go to bed at a time that will let you get eight solid hours of sleep.
You have progressed well, young ninja! Now go and do battle with your nemesis, the test that calls itself ACT.
[Deep bow]
