i'm barely 18 and i feel like this. i know that i want to make art and i know what school i want to go to but it's just seeming so unlikely that i'll make it. my grades are okay and i'm building a strong portfolio but there are these big stupid exams you have to take in texas called the TAKS tests, and the math one is standing in my way of graduating. a couple of years ago if i hadn't passed it i would still graduate but they changed it to where if you don't pass it in time you aren't even allowed at graduation, and you stay enrolled in school for a TAKS prep class until you do. i've taken it three times, and failed by one question twice. i'm horrified by the thought that i'll still be stuck here in this go-nowhere town trying to pass this test until i'm 20.