As a current junior, I am confident I can speak for the rest of my classmates when I say that college is one of the many things constantly running through our minds. Teachers, parents, and guidance counselors have been pushing college preparation guides at us basically since we walked through the doors on the first day of school . . . stressing that it can never be too soon to start getting ready to make what could be seen as the most important decision in our lives. But when it comes to choosing your future career and college, can such a decision really be narrowed down at barely 17 years old?

I know that a few months ago, I could barely set my mind on what I wanted for lunch each day, nevermind nail down a concrete future. And with that said, seeing college brochures pile up in my mailbox and e-mails pouring in from hordes of schools I’d never even heard of truly made me want to just pull the covers over my head and hide from the idea of college instead of embracing it. Posters advertising various career programs line the hallways at school, and college informational guides are splayed out everywhere you can imagine. It’s hard enough to focus on high school these days, with the immense amount of work and important assignments introduced to us each day, let alone let your mind wander to the distant future where colleges and careers are concerned. Yet according to many of the adults in our lives, we should be putting thought into the college process as often as we can.

Flashback to September and October — back to the days of the college mini fairs. For three consecutive Tuesdays, representatives from many colleges across the New England area set up smartly decorated tables throughout the cafeteria, fanning out informational booklets and laying out pens for hopeful students to give out their personal information. And then hundreds of juniors and seniors were herded into the cafeteria and, for the next 20 minutes, were expected to mill about and find their potential academic calling. Immediately, the indecisive student in me became overwhelmed by the chaos of the crowded cafeteria, and I scurried around collecting a brochure from each and every school available, worried that the one school I miss could be the one destined for me. And three mini fairs later, I now had an entire milk crate filled with informational booklets and brochures from more colleges than I could name offhand. But they were still just that — a crate full of brochures. I still could not single out among them the one college I was dying to attend. And in the months following, guidance counselors set to work, scheduling assemblies and appointments to help each of us juniors pinpoint the career path right for us. My parents also took on a fair share of the work, sitting me down and showing me documentaries about student loans and scheduling college visits over school vacations. And I can’t forget about the teachers — they all somehow manage to incorporate the word “college” into the curriculum even when it seems to have no relevance to the matter at hand.

The first few months of junior year seem to be more geared toward college prep than anything else. As soon as you step into eleventh grade, you are rocketed into a world of college lectures and online statistics, and the pressure is on for you to find your educational calling. There’s no doubt that this introduction to the college search is stressful. Adults and peers are constantly asking the question, “have you figured out where you want to go to school yet?” And until now, I would always answer tentatively. “Not really, I’m still looking!” Because the truth was, I hadn’t figured it out. Figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life and which college is going to take you there is a hard decision. Probably the hardest one I’ve had to make yet. But the real question is, are the efforts put forth by guidance counselors and parents helpful in this decision? Do their informational strategies help ease this stress-inducing process?

After months of college fairs, relentless emails, and parental pressure, I can finally say that I’ve begun to narrow down my college decision, finally beginning to see the career destined for me. And why? Because for the past few months I’ve been surrounded by nothing but ideas: ideas about college, ideas about careers, ideas about my future. Ideas that really helped me brainstorm and figure out my decision without even thinking about it, really. Months ago, back in September, I was annoyed by all of the college information being thrown at me by the guidance department. But now I realize that because I was introduced to that information, and especially because I was introduced to that information so soon, I was able to narrow down my decision quicker than I ever would have if not informed. The truth is, for these past few months my brain has been quietly working, quietly sorting through all of the information gathered from college letters and brochures and preparing me for this big decision without me even realizing. And though I’m not sure exactly where I’m going and what I’m going to do when I get there, I’m definitely a few steps closer.

Many of you juniors out there might know exactly what you’re meant to do. Many of you might be figuring out one step at a time, like I am. And for those of you who have absolutely no clue where you’re going, don’t worry. You’re not alone. But whether you realize it or not, you’re much more prepared for the college decision than you know. All of the efforts of the guidance department have not been for nothing. Though it seems like college is all anyone is pushing at you right now, you will be thankful once you finally figure out what college is right for you. College is undoubtedly one of the biggest decisions of our lives. And though it may seem silly to start thinking about something so distant in the future, the truth is that it really never is too soon to start planning. Graduation is coming whether you’re ready or not. When you finally figure out where you want to apply, it will no doubt be because of the hard work of those around you.

Marijuana is always a tricky subject to tackle. More often than not, there will be smoked-out hippies defending it and middle class suburbanites attacking it. As some states have  voted to legalize it, and others have softened laws about its use, I was looking for some unbiased information on whether or not marijuana is “healthy” for use.

Now that raises the question: what is healthy? Health is defined as “the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living organism” (thank you, Wikipedia). So I will be judging the herbage on whether or not it meets that criteria.

Right off the bat, it is smoke going into your lungs so it’s a carcinogen. That means it can cause cancer. Scientists are still arguing over whether inhaling marijuana smoke is more or less dangerous than sucking in cigarette smoke, but either way, it can’t be healthy for you. Frequent use of the drug can also irritate or damage your lungs and increase your heart rate by 20-100 percent shortly after smoking. So that most likely isn’t beneficial to your health.

By using marijuana, you gain a sense of euphoria and an out-of-body experience. This is likely why it is the most commonly used illegal drug in the U.S., according to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.   Chronic use of the drug during your teen years can result in loss of memory, lowered IQ, inability to concentrate, increased depression and loss of motivation . . .  so, definitely not healthy. I did say, however, “chronic use.” Proponents of marijuana cite studies that have suggested these side effects are lessened in recreational or light use of the drug. Of course, then you get into the sticky situation of determining what should be considered “chronic” and what is “recreational.” According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, chronic use is defined as smoking marijuana 27 days out of 30.

But then I discovered thanks to DrugWarFacts.org that there has never been a recorded overdose-related death caused by the mean green. I assumed that thanks to lung damage, cancer or loss of IQ, someone would have died from years and years of use of it. This isn’t the case. Many  states including New Hampshire, New York, California and Massachusetts have legalized medicinal marijuana. Medicinal marijuana is utilized to help people in extreme pain and suffering such as cancer patients. It eases their pain, and since it probably isn’t going to kill them (there’s a reason you’ve never heard of medicinal crack), they smoke it. In Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska, the drug has been completely legalized, and their mortality, murder and injury rates have not gone up (if anything, the food service business has gotten a boost).

Marijuana walks the fine line between being classified as a drug for good reason (remember all those side effects) and being able to truly help people in pain. It is fairly non-addictive. I believe that it’s not the drug that hurts people, it’s the people who hurt the drug’s reputation. People are dumb, let’s face it, and they are most certainly dumb enough to think they’re okay to use a mind-altering drug every day or drive while under the influence. No surprise. But there are some  times when using the drug can be relatively safe or even medically beneficial. Alcohol is legal and that hurts and kills a lot more people than marijuana.

Every year since third grade, the months of March and May have meant only one thing: MCAS. For two or three days in each month, students in classrooms across the state sit in silent rooms for hours and muddle their way through the thick, professional packets. Reading passages with questions to follow, the dreaded five-paragraph essay, and math diagrams to solve are the most prominent memories I have of these long spring afternoons. MCAS is not very difficult if the teacher has taught the curriculum well, and students are often given practice packets for months leading up to the big day. In fact, it is not uncommon for a few kids from each grade to achieve a perfect score on the English or Math tests. MCAS is long and painful, but very doable for most students.

Last year, change began to take place in the seemingly immovable system. My English class was selected to take part in the pilot test of the brand-new PARCC exam. There is no better surprise than getting told you got lucky enough to take part in even more standardized testing! In all seriousness though, taking this new test was interesting in that we got to see what the MCAS will become. The PARCC test is different in that it is entirely online, including all readings, drawings, diagrams and open responses. It took a while to get used to the new interface, but once I had the hang of it, the exam was basically just a computerized MCAS. I felt that the readings were more advanced and questions more analytical than MCAS, but overall, there were no major changes to the world of statewide tests.

So, which is better (or should I say, less painful), MCAS or PARCC? My answer: neither. MCAS is helpful in that it introduces students at a young age to the concept of standardized testing, and PARCC combines testing with the use of technology which cuts back on our environmental footprint (and makes my inner Prius driver very happy). But what do these tests really accomplish? Sure, they help track that students in Massachusetts are being taught what they should be under the curriculum, but there are other, more beneficial ways of accomplishing this. I feel that the standardized tests taken by elementary, middle andhigh school students should resemble the SAT or ACT. Rather than asking questions about what an author meant by certain phrases or how to find perimeter and area, the tests should focus on vocabulary, critical thinking, and logic to get students used to thinking in this way. These two tests in the long run are much more important to individual students since they play a large role in college admission. If the MCAS or PARCC were treated like an early version of the SAT for younger grades, students would be starting to think in terms of this test years before they even have to take it. Rather than having to spend hundreds on private tutors or classes to prepare for the SAT and ACT like many families do each year, the school system could provide this service all the while checking to see if schools are teaching what they need to. I’m not saying we should do away with standardized testing, I’m simply advocating that we reinvent it.