Why (and when) you should eat tuna.

I think I just became tuna's biggest fan.

I don't know when it all started, probably with the ACT. At some point in time my mom told me that tuna fish helped your brain work better and she fed it to me before taking a test. I'm certain I did well on the test because I've eaten tuna every morning I've had a big test since. It worked on the ACT, it worked through college, it worked on the 6-hour test day while taking the PRAXIS after driving 2 hours through a blizzard (not even making that up). That day was the first time I tried to eat a whole can of tuna. Plain. With a fork. I think that's the most effective way to get the tuna to your brain in the right quantity.

A month ago I was taking another PRAXIS.

The PRAXIS is a series of standardized teacher tests that you have to pass in order to become a licensed teacher. Basically it shows folks that you're smart enough to teach. I think this was the 7th PRAXIS I've had to take . . . I'm not actually sure, when I started I only thought I'd be taking two, but every couple of months I hear about another one I'm required to take . . . but I think that's another subject for another day.

At any rate, I was taking this test, so I grabbed my can of tuna, for some reason I was only able to eat half the can. I got to the center a little late, sat down just before they read the instructions and I started my test. I'd studied a little the week before, and knew how much time I could spend on each question. I tend to start tests a little slow and speed up as I go. I was pretty concerned, however, when I'd only made it through half the question and I'd used up all the time I'd allotted for the first question. I decided to finish my sentence, be real strict with my use of time, and come back to finish if I had time at the end.

My plan was working pretty good, I was coming up with decent answers to the questions, the tuna was doing it's job. Imagine my surprise when, after complementing myself on a particularly intelligent answer, I looked down to see I'd answered it in the wrong spot. Not only was my essay not where it was supposed to be, but it was keeping me from writing what I needed to in that spot. I erased like a mad-woman, rewrote that and flew through everything. I spent 4-min. at the end finishing the part I'd skipped and had a right hand that seemed to be stuck in pencil-holding position.

Fastforward to today. I received a certificate in the mail declaring that I, Rachel, had not only passed my PRAXIS, but I'd scored in the top 15% of all people who take the test. I blame it on the tuna. Imagine what could have happened had I eaten the whole can.