“Never heard of that before,” said sophomore Emily Slater when it was announced that ASVAB testing signups would be available at school.  ASVAB is an acronym for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.  This is a form of test that is administered to the individuals that would possibly like to be a part of the Armed Forces in the future.  The ASVAB is developed and maintained directly from the Department of Defense.  The reasoning for taking the ASVAB test if you are considering the military as an option for the future, is the fact that what you score in four main areas of the test:  Mathematics Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Arithmetic Reasoning, and World Knowledge will count towards your AFQT.  The AFQT is the Armed Forces Qualifying Test, which ultimately determines if you’re qualified enough to enlist in the United States’ military.  What you score on other areas of the test can help establish if you are qualified for certain specialty positions or could be subject to a bonus once you are in the military.  Scoring high on the ASVAB could impact your future with the United States military. 

Beginning on Tuesday the 17^th students from sophomores to seniors were allowed to start signing up to take the ASVAB test at school on January 25^th, registration for the test ends on January 23^rd.  Guidance counselor Mrs. Jackson said, that there has “been a decline for people who sign up “for ASVAB in recent years.  “It is roughly 100 students [that sign up]” said Mrs. Jackson.  The testing is typically more towards juniors and seniors but the testing is open for sophomores as well.  The only issue with sophomores applying to take the test is that the scores only stay valid for two years.  This means that if a sophomore is serious about joining the military and takes the ASVAB test than they would have to take it again before taking the next step to join the military.  There is online practice tests and pamphlets in the front office that talk about ASVAB, so if you are interested in taking the test then these are some resources available to you.  Like Courtney Wood, 10th grade, said, “Otherwise I never would have known about it”.