Failing by one point.........

[Susan]

Don't know if any one watched Greys Anatomy tonight, but apparently George took some medical exam and failed. And felt royally bummed, as all his comrades passed.

I don't watch enough to know all the characters, but Meridith's sister sneaks in somewhere and goes through the files and finds out he failed by one point. :x :

I've been reading a lot of posts lately from students preparing to take written exams, and feel compelled to pass this on...............if you DO fail, you won't die. The heavens will not open and swallow you up. Time will not stop, the earth will keep spinning. If it happens, keep it in perspective. And I know...........from personal experience.

In 1988 I took my written exam (not the same one most of you are taking now, but I've been told it was tougher. I can't say.........) Unfortunately a lot of people in my particular class failed that session and I was one of those students. (there was a teacher issue which our school addressed as a result).

I had never failed anything in my entire life. I was a great test taker in High School, but that was 20 years previous. I was mortified. Later I got my results and found I failed by 3/10th of a point. Not even a whole point.
Jeez. Even the IRS rounds up to the next number!

But you know what? I took refresher classes, and reapplied, and took the damn test again in 6 months (it was only offered two times a year back then in my state.) I still didn't get a great score (remember, I said the test was tough?) , but as someone pointed out to me, it doesn't say on your license what your score was.

In a weird way, it was good for me. It certainly kept me from being cocky, and once I got my license I definitely appreciated it. And after comparing scores with other classmates, I can say years later that a great score doesn't necessarily correlate to whether you will be successful or have a long career or anything other than that score.

Hopefully you will all breeze through the process without a scratch. But if you don't, just note that you aren't alone. And life, after all, is very much about do-overs! :

Savannah Bloom - 3/10th shy of Nirvana! Ha!

 

[rbabz]

Oh, Thank you so much for sharing this Savannah!

And, oh yeah, 3/10 shy of Nirvana! Do I ever know that feeling!!! I'm just at the beginning of my program, so have some time before taking "THE" test, but I've been nervous about all of the upcoming tests because I think I've always been a horrible test-taker. The anxiety with them flips my brain out Maybe this time it will all be different! Maybe I'll try to schedule a massage beforehand!

I'm being proactive about things and getting a study guide/prep for the exam to review now to go along with my classes so hopefully I can be comfortable with the material that will be on the test when it does come. Hopefully that will help some too. I wonder why the test has seemingly gotten easier through the years though?

Your experience helps me put things in a lot better perspective, and I'll be holding onto it for the next year, for sure! Thanks!!

 

[No Way Jan]

healingtime ;

"I wonder why the test has seemingly gotten easier through the years though? "

It isn't the same test. The national exam didn't exist in 1988, Oregon had their own written exam. I know people that took it then, and when the national exam was developed, took that because they wanted the certification to put behind their name, and the comment came from those people. Then again, maybe it was just easier for them because they'd done it once.

I was "grandfathered in" to my State because I was licensed before the national exam came about, so I wasn't required to take it. I'm not necessarily a big fan of national certification, and didn't feel like it posed any big advaneforum.xxxe to me personally, so I have not ever taken it. I am a little gun shy about written exams! :roll:

School was really, really hard for me. I was working full time, lived a long way away from the school, and led a very chaotic and disorganized life. I shied away from all science related stuff as a teenager, so my biology background was skimpy, and hence all the info in massage school was essentially new to me. Very mysterious and confusing. And I'd been out of high school for about 18 years by then. I was exhausted most of the time, and between studying and commuting and maintaining our household, there was nothing left over.

I look back on that now and think how unfortunate it was. Making my way into this profession was one of the most stressful times in my life! If I had it to "do over", I would try to make provisions so that there was more time to devote to learning, to relax, and to enjoy the experience. And to get massages that are outside of the classroom...............the only massage I got during that time was from fellow classmates, which don't get me wrong is valuable, but I never got to experience a normal "I'm a real client" massage. So when I got to the part of my training where we did clinic, I was terrified! And oh man, do I have some funny stories to tell about that! Ha!

My most sage advice is to try to relax...........if I FEEL in my body what my head and hands are learning I find it easier to absorb. Lecture and reading technical scientific stuff tends to leave me with my jaw hanging open and a glazed look in my eyes muttering "Huh?" I frequently don't get it that way.

The human body is so fascinating......

I hope you hang in there. It's worth the effort! savannah

 

[rOcKerO83]

Thanks for sharing, Savannah!

Wow, I really admire my classmates who drive a long way in to come to school. There's a few in my class who drive an hour or more. I'm about 30 minutes away (with traffic, ha, could be 15 without.) It's awesome all the challenges you made it through.

To me it seems like for a lot of people making the leap into massage school is somewhat like having a child in the sense that for most there is never that perfect time to go for it. And sometimes life just takes you and goes for it anyway. I'm glad you made it through, and thanks for the encouragement to stick with it. I most definitely am...it's been a long road getting here, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be in school. I'm also financially tapped, single mom, etc etc etc, ughhh...but I'm now also most at peace. For once I'm not trying to fit someone else's mold.

Now, when clinics roll around that whole "at peace" thing might take on another tune! We're just starting Swedish so I have a little bit before clinics start, but I know it will be upon us in no time! That's where I really want to be, but scary too! I can't wait till I'm actually comfortable practicing and I have some funny stories under my belt! haha

 

[Fletcher]

Oh yeah, the funny stories will come... : Although I find the funny stories where ever I go. People are just bizarre creatures, and what are you gonna do? You've just got to laugh at yourself and all these wacky folk passing through.......

Yes, there's no "perfect time". For years I've been one of those people that fills up flat surfaces with stuff............such a curse. So it's safe to say I have a problem with clutter. I also happen to love fresh flowers. For years I denied myself fresh flowers, waiting until I had my house "cleaned up". Well, I've been waiting a long time.........

Last year I moved to a new house, and I decided clutter or not, I was having fresh flowers. So now you come in my front door, and there's all this stuff waiting to be reorganized and put away, and a little trail leading over to an end table.........with a lovely vase of fresh flowers! t038
I hope to get the clutter under control, but whether I do or I don't I'll be enjoying my pretty posies!

So good for you that despite the obstacles you jumped in.
t023 savannah

 

[phoenix]

Savannah that is so great that you posted this.

I tend to get myself all worked up into a froth over tests. I have not been very gentle or forgiving of myself and for this reason I think I have been having health issues!

You are right of course, it isn't worth it and like pregnancy and all seforum.xxxes of my kids lives, I want to look back and say I ENJOYED the experience.

 

[Lucas]

Savannah,
I always soooo enjoy your posts. Thanks for sharing this. I remember the stress and agony I went through in the weeks before my Nat'l Cert Exam, and I wish someone had been there to say this to me. I actually burst into tears when I got the results that I had passed, because the relief was so overwhelming ------ it was THEN that I realized how much pressure I had put on myself. :?

You are an inspiration to me.

 

[nostrilburier]

Thank you Ding, you're very sweet! Trust me though, I'm just another dolt stumbling along the path trying to find my way! Ha! t103

I tend to believe the apparent falsehood that everybody but me has "it" together. Not to say that there aren't lots of people that are evolved and living in deep enlightenment - but I know that a lot of what I perceive in other people as superior life skills is on occasion just damn fine..........look good! You know, if you put up a good enough front, you can fool them all and you might come to believe it yourself?

Sometimes it's just nice to sit back and relax and for once let the warts and the nose hairs have their day. It gets tiring trying to pretend too much. And it's way more amusing!

And of this I know what I speak .... I had cancer about 6 years ago and lost all my hair, and I now know that nose hair serves a function! Acts as a filter, and as an early warning signal that your nose is running..............sorry. Long winded way to say thanks! I'm glad you enjoy my posts, I enjoy this forum. Savannah

 

[Eclipse Vancouver]

For years I've been one of those people that fills up flat surfaces with stuff..

Oh, Savannah Bloom, I know just where you are coming from. I am SURE that paper breeds as soon as we turn our back even for a second!!

Now I try to keep one or two rooms completely clear - and have doors for the ones that I can't. Isn't that what doors are for?

My son just failed first year chiropractic college for the second time - all in the biochemistry area and all by just a few percent. He failed one by 3%, was sure he had passed the re-take and failed by 3% again. He is great at bodywork, so he is giving up chiropractic college for now and taking massage and then hopes to take osteopathy.

Marion

 

[caydelay]

When I took my exam, I was so stressed! When the nice lady behind the desk gave me the results, I looked at it. I asked if she was sure. I'd passed and but I'd such problems taking the test, I thought I'd failed for sure! LOL

 

[PB&J]

So that's it! Paper breeds!! Now that you mention it I'm sure that's what happens.

Marion, tell your son I feel for him. That's tough to be so close.

savannah

 

[spiderking88]

Thanks for this thread, Savannah. When I took my board exam, I was a nervous wreck. I had taken time off work to drive to Tallahassee the night before, and paid for a motel room so I could be fresh for the exam (the first one of the day). I sunk a fair amount of money into what was essentially a day trip, and I didn't want to do it twice.

When the test was over, I walked into the admin's office calculating how long it would take me to save up the money to do it again. When she smiled at me and said, "You got it," the only thing that stopped me from hitting the floor was the wall behind me.

To any student reading this, I will give you this piece of advice, passed down to me from my instructor. If you approach this test as though it's a piece of cake, you will likely fail. If you approach it with the respect it deserves (it does, after all, determine your legal ability to practice that which you've studied lo these many months), then you have a greater success rate.

Good luck to anyone taking them soon!