I had my route thought out... but I was a little unclear as to where to go. I'd never been to the building it was in. And it was in a part of town I'm not very familiar with. I knew I needed to take the silver line to south station but I was hoping from there I'd be able to walk the rest of the way.
But I didnt account for the fact that I would get off the bus and not know which direction to walk. I turned right and began walking to what looked like the highway. I got a couple blocks and started to feel unsure. I left early enough to be able to walk to the testing center. But not early enough to get lost. And I most certainly didnt know I was walking in the right direction. I tried to ask a man on the street. He had no idea. I had to make a decision. Being late for my exam... well that just wouldnt do.
So I hurried into the Train station to find an ATM. There were cabs everywhere but I didnt have any cash on me to pay for a cab ride. I was starting to get that tell-tale twist in my stomach. This was not how I wanted the morning to go. Why werent the directions more specific? Seriously who knows where Summer Street is? Luckily there was a ATM. After it rejecting my credit card I used my debit. I'm still unclear about their debit system here. Everything seems like a credit card to me. But I got into a taxi and told him the address - 27 Wormwood Street. My least favorite thing ever is when Taxi drivers give you the look like they have no clue where that is. Do they not realize that obviously I'm getting into a taxi because I dont know where it is either. I know its unreasonable to expect them to know every street but come on. If I give you the general direction you better be able to find the right location.
So off we went. The most silent cab ride ever. Usually cabs play music, or the cabbie annoyingly talks on his hands free head set. But this cabbie was mute. As was his car. As we drove I was glad I didnt walk. Cause there were alot more turns than I had anticipated. I surely wouldnt have made it on time. Plus it was farther than I thought. So we get to a street and he goes "27 right?" I look at the street sign and it says Wormwood Way/Place. And so I tell him that I'm pretty sure its Wormwood Street. And he says this is the only Wormwood he knows of. And so he pulls over. And what does he pull out? His GPS. Are you freaking kidding me? Why dont all taxi drivers just drive with their GPS already out? Especially if you dont know for sure where the place is. So he inputs the address, confirming that its "street". And to my slight embarrassment we were on the right street, like two buildings away. But seriously, what if it had been the wrong street. I wasn't getting out of that taxi without knowing I was in the right place. So I pay and get out.
This building does not look like a testing center. Not even a little bit. It looks like apartments. When I signed up for this test I was expecting a big room filled with computers. And a building that looks like a highschool or something. Or like a big testing arena like they have in undergrad in the gyms. But I'm here and its getting close to the time I'm supposed to start. So I go in. I'm sure I looked lost. Big eyed and looking anxiously to and fro. Clear sign I think. Luckily the guy behind the plexi-glass clearly recognized the look of someone about to take a major test that was lost. He asked me if I was here to take a test and then pointed me in the right direction with the instruction to follow the signs.
I entered and right in front of me was Amit. Seeing the other person you know is taking the exam is always a good sign. But this prometric site was so strange. Maybe I'm just not used to this style of exam taking but you tell them you've arrived. And then you sit in this waiting room. Basically its like a doctors office. You sit and wait and then one by one they call your name and you get to go behind the next doors. You cant bring anything in tho except you ID. And the locker key you used to lock your jacket up with. Amit and I sat and made some small talk. But mostly we were quiet. I prayed. I mean I had prayed when I woke up. And on the bus. And in the taxi. But seriously, I needed some divine help. So I prayed more.
Amit got called in first. But I didnt wait much longer. The people running this were all old. Super old. Must be a requirement of the job. So I enter the back room. And there are two desks. Amit was at one and I sat at the other. And these two old men checked us in. I signed in. Then he checked my ID's. Apparently he's never seen an Alberta license before. I can imagine its not all that common out here. And then I got my index finger prints scanned. Yup - you read that right. I had to get finger printed to write this exam. Apparently they mean business. Finger printing. Unheard of. And last but not least they took my photo. Then he showed me into another room and led me to my computer. They had noise canceling head phones. The kind construction workers wear. I put them on immediately. There's something nice about a complete lack of sound. Plus spending seven hours listening to other people typing and clicking would get old real fast.
Mmm the test. The first half was ok. I had three and a half hours to write 200 questions. So I put my head down and went for it. There were a few questions that I didnt even know what they were talking about but for the most part I at least recognized what the question was asking for. Whether I knew the answer was a different story. The most annoying part is recognizing a question from an old exam and not remembering the answer. Or even worse, realizing I read over that topic but not remembering the details.
Once I was finished with the first 200, I had the option of taking an hour break. But come on... really I had no where to go and what was I gonna do for an hour? So I took a five minute break to make a washroom run and came right back.
I think I got a little cocky from Round One. I didnt feel completely unprepared in Round One. Which I suppose makes it only fair that Round Two would knock me right back down. I always knew that Pathology and Microbiology would be the bane of my existence. But seriously - why did they need to make Round Two so hard? I hate feeling like I know nothing. Which I guess is why I should of studied more. But honestly, no matter how many times I read over the different types of bacteria's out there plaguing the world, I will not remember specifically what makes one barely different from another. And all the diseases. Bah. If someone could just come up with vaccines for all these freaking diseases I wouldnt have to know them anymore right? We should put money into that. Round Two took me alot longer than Round One. At least it felt that way. But honestly, once I've been through twice, I figure there's not much more I can do. The questions I marked to come back to later only made me want to switch my answers. And by the time I finished going through it all again, I convinced myself that my answers made sense. Educated guessing and what not.
So I was done. And it only took me like five hours. Oh. That still sounds awful even though its already over. There is nothing left to do though. I said all my prayers. And now I wait. Honestly, it may sound minimalistic, but I'm just hoping for a pass. I just want to pass.
Tonite tho I'm not going to think about the finals I need to start studying for or if I answered the board questions right. Sheila is going to skip her class tonite and we are going to go celebrate. Dinner and New Moon. I'm really excited. And hopefully with the board stress over and done with I can get back to a normal sleep pattern. Cause every night all-nighters are overrated. Big time.
