The Waiting

Do you know that Tom Petty song? The chorus goes:

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part.


That's what I'm doing right now. I took my test last Thursday. I don't find out how I did until sometime this month.

About the test: I was allowed four and a half hours to take it and I took a little more than four hours. It was pretty grueling. The exam was computer-based and had 5 different sections: 3 multiple-choice sections of 30 questions each, and 2 simulation sections which are basically case studies where you have to do some research, write some form of communication (usually a memo) based on the topic, and do some fill-in-the-blank and pick-a-choice-from-a-drop-down-menu types of questions. I usually do best at multiple choice questions, but on this test, I really think I did better at the simulations. Some of those multiple-choice questions were pretty tough. Oh I forgot to mention that one of the sections was an "evaluation" section. That means that the people that design the exam are evaluating that section to see how test-takers do, so that they can decide if they need to make any changes before they include those sections on future exams. It also means my responses don't count for that section. They don't tell you which section is the evaluation section. It could be one of the multiple-choice sections or it could be one of the simulation sections. I just hope the evaluation section was the section I did the worst on... whichever one that was.

I have no idea how I did. I think I did pretty good on some parts, and I think I nailed some questions. But others... well, they were guesses. I just hope I passed. I need a score of 75 or better to pass.

So here I wait. I'll be checking the examiner's Web site daily this month to see how I did, but until some number magically appears in that little box on their site, I get to wait.