Many of us students have heard that the dreaded AzMERIT test is coming to us as soon as the first week after spring break. To be exact, the date to look forward to is Mar. 29.

It makes sense that students are distressed by the testing schedule. Many are going on wild spring break vacations, returning drowsy and overwhelmed. Before gathering friends around to protest and trying  to retrieve fake “opt-out” slips, think about it.

This may sound like a nightmare at first, however, maybe it is not so bad.

Instead of the testing interfering with our stress levels in the middle or towards the end of the quarter (when finals come to haunt students), we will only have to cope with this stress at the beginning of 4th quarter, when students are not bombarded with as much homework and studying.

Plus, keep in mind that when AzMERIT testing comes around, it results in less class time and more time after school to spend NOT doing homework…a rare occasion that we all secretly ache for.

You may now have time to spend with friends and family, visit your favorite coffee shop, binge watch your favorite show, or even catch up on sleep.

Towards the middle and end of the quarter, more and more juniors suffer from the stress and weight of the ACT, SAT, and even AP tests. The AzMERIT should not add to a junior’s long list of stresses during the same exact time.

Space between testing periods ensures that students do not become overwhelmed, allowing them to perform better on standardized tests.

To put the circumstances in a more positive perspective, at least we are “getting it over with.”

There is not necessarily a good time to face the AzMERIT. So why not just take the test as soon as we can?

Avoidance and procrastination can get us absolutely nowhere. Students have made it through testing times for years, and must not stop now. Challenging times can only benefit students, making them stronger and more ambitious.

Like the divine Wiz Khalifa once said, “work hard play hard.” This inspirational, iconic, and hardly life-changing quote can apply to this situation. Immediately after transferring all of our effort into the test, we can leave school, free from judgement and standardized test anxiety.

For the rest of the year, we will neither think about it nor talk about it. The AzMERIT is absolutely over when your final bubble is filled and the proctor releases you. Not until next year will we have to endure the pain and struggles of the test. But in the meantime, we should appreciate the fact that it is one dreaded event checked off of our never ending to-do lists.