High Stakes Testing

I'd like to shake the hand of the person who invented that concept. And I'd see that my hand had an implanted joy buzzer. Shows you what I think of that bright idea, eh?

So yesterday, I woke up at 6:00 AM. Always a marvelous way to start off a Saturday. But this was no ordinary Saturday. Yesterday, I was to take the first two of three exams in the PRAXIS II series (I took PRAXIS I in summer of 2005). While the initial test was virtually a poor man's SAT, PRAXIS II is an entirely different beast. The exams on my plate evaluated my knowledge in English, the subject I plan to teach, in order to determine how fit I am to use it. So once again, high stakes, standardized testing gets to determine a portion of my future. When I ascend to the position of administrator, that'll be the first thing to go. Mark my words.

Anyway, I had a light breakfast and set out for Greenville Tech, my designated test center. Which is where the trouble began...

Apparantly, I should have scouted out the test site beforehand to get a better idea of where to drive to, because as it turned out, it didn't exactly stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. My first mistake was trying the University Center. The place was deserted (because who in their right mind wants to be up at 7:15 AM? Oh, right. Standardized test subjects like me) save for one college student standing outside. I roll down my window to ask for directions, which he's nice enough to offer me. That was mistake number two. Should have asked someone in charge. His directions ended up leading me in the opposite direction of the center, wasting 15 minutes in doing so. I knew I was in trouble when I hit North Pleasantburg Drive. Supposed to be South.

By this point, I'm close to freaking out. I'm 20 minutes past the deadline and about lost all hope of even finding this place, let alone sitting down to do the exams. So I did what any desperate person would do in a similar situation. I started praying. Hard. And God calmed me down enough to get turned around and finally spot University transfer building #104 at 8:00 AM, half an hour late. Mistake number three, by the way, was choosing Greenville Tech as a test site. About five other events were going on when I got there, including a race and a film screening that I had to drive past. It took me another few minutes to find the PRAXIS listing and get myself checked in.

As I entered the English testing room, I'm all set to begin planning what to do and how to make up the test. I was ready to ask the director questions about cancelling my date and scheduling a make-up one on the spot. But God wasn't finished with His miracles. I'd forgotten that standardized tests have a notorious habit of beginning late, and the only thing I'd missed were some opening instructions. And once you've heard one set of those, you've heard them all. Doesn't make them any less annoying. To my immense relief, I got to sit down, catch my breath and take my test after all. Okay, okay, maybe not total relief. But I figured, if God could help me conquer that early morning pandemonium, the PRAXIS II would be a breeze.

The tests themselves weren't too bad. I feel like the essays went more smoothly than the multiple choice, which was the exact opposite of my expectations. Funny the way things work out. Time really wasn't a factor; both cases, I finished up with several minutes to spare, enabling me to go back, fix some problems, and add detail here and there. By the end, you're just relieved that it's over. The rest of my Saturday was bliss because I spent it with Anna Kate and her folks. We watched Clemson basketball play against Maryland, where sadly, we dropped our first game of the year. Oh well. 17-1 at this point is still an amazing feat. Her Dad cooked dinner for us, and then we went to see The Pursuit of Happyness at the movies (by the way, that's not a mispelling. It really is "happyness" in the movie. You'd have to see why for yourself). Fun times, all :) So the latter half of Saturday lived up to its billing.