Every school day around 7 am, a confident and enthusiastic nine-year-old student would spring out of bed and prepare for the school day that awaited her.

For the following six hours, she would participate in engaging educational activities. And although she continued to enjoy school, she reached a certain age where the enthusiasm faded.

Today, as a high school student in the United States, the same girl and many other pupils across the country have lost the fervor once found in going to school due to the heavier reliance on the "teaching to the test" mentality of the schools.

Many teachers have been required to change their teaching style to meet standardized test requirements at the expense of other vital skills. As a result, school feels like a chore for students, filled with boredom and dullness. Instead of students truly grasping the material, they are rushed to prepare for tests while losing interest in education.

The new standard of test-driven instruction creates immense pressure on students. Although standardized tests can be used as the baseline for students' performance, they can also be an unreliable indicator of student potential due to how many factors heavily sway test scores. According to the NY Times student editorial, Alan Peng, a seventeen-year-old, expressed how standardized examinations are only based upon "shallow thinking" and "ignore creativity and depth of understanding, thus turning students into robots."

School used to stimulate confidence and enthusiasm for many students but now has triggered fear and anxiety. In addition, a Britannica source listed how standardized tests like the SAT and ACT lack "critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills required for success in the real world." Instead, students fear failure and believe their test results will determine their future success.

Some colleges have become test-optional for applications due to standardized tests not accurately reflecting one's academic ability. This does not relieve any pressure because students still feel obligated to submit their scores on standardized tests due to a great deal of competition and disadvantage to students who submit their scores.

Rather than finding ways to work around the issue, we must end the tests that label us and create unnecessary stress. We need to focus on favoring a more varied and inclusive education system. We must prioritize the needs of students and, most importantly, craft skills that develop us into creative people, not human automatons. We need to use multiple assessment forms, such as portfolios, performance-based exams, and teacher evaluations, which can be used to create a more accurate and comprehensive picture of diverse student learning. We need to find our buried enthusiasm to learn and prioritize a more engaging approach to education.