I DID IT!!!

Well, it seems, for a change, that hard work actually paid off for me.  Well, I guess it wasn't really hard work.  More like medium work.  All the studying I did over the last couple of weeks must have really gotten my mind in a mathy mode because I nearly scored high enough to completely exempt Math 101!!!!  This is a HUGE thing for me.  I haven't had a math class since my 1996-97 school year.  Math and I are not friends, we're bitter enemies.  The first time I went to college,
right out of high school in 1999, I actually tested into what I called the "idiot math class".  Its designation was Math 036, and was a remedial, self-paced math class that included skills like addition and subtraction with three and four numbers.  It was like, 4th grade math.  Now, while I'm not mathematician, I'm not a complete idiot.  It was that math class (in combination with a couple of other things) that made me drop out of college the first time.  Because it made me feel stupid.

Needless to say this time around, I was extremely nervous about the math portion of the test.  When I tried the practice test questions, I wasn't even sure how to do them and spent most of my study time re-learning how to do things like differential equations with two variables and graphing equations for curves.  Today when I sat down to take the test groaned when I realized that the math portion would be the third and final part.  I figured it would be.  I refused to fret however.  I took each question extra slow and read everything very carefully multiple times.  My worst faults in test taking are rushing and making careless mistakes, and I was determined not to let those things creep in.  I wasn't really worried about the reading and writing portions as I've always had a knack for English.  But I still read each passage at least three times.

When it was finally time for the math portion, I took a deep breath and began.  The first couple of questions were rather easy.  My first "real" math question was the type where you employ the "FOIL" method to solve, which made me smile  These types of equations were some of my favorites in school and I never had problems with them.  I answered confidently and clicked to the next question, only to stare in horror.  I hadn't come across questions like this in my study.  I wasn't even sure what type of problem this was, much less how to solve it.  I could feel the despair and frustration creep up the back of my neck but remained resolute.  The further in the test I went, the harder the questions got.  While I didn't know how to properly solve many of them, I could use the skills I had brushed up to figure out the answers by either plugging them into the equations or by careful hypothesis.

The wait for my test results was brutal.  I signed in again and sat as patiently as possible while reading my book and jiggling my foot.  45 minutes passed by without my being called, so I went to the desk to check how many people were left before me.  They had totally skipped over my name!  I sighed heavily in annoyance and I put my name on the sign-up sheet again in big, bold, capital letters and sat down again to wait some more.  After about 20 minutes, they finally called my name.  (Which is why I never leave the house without a book!)  I followed the admissions specialist back to her office where she retrieved my printed test results and scanned the page with raised eyebrows.

"Wow, you did really, really well on this test!"

And so I had.  The math portion I had been so worried about had not been a breeze, but my scores were excellent!  So excellent that I missed completely exempting Math 101 by a scant 10 point.  I was so stoked that I had to go outside and around the corner of the building to do my happy dance in private.  So after some more waiting (this whole process took nearly six hours; the test only took me about an hour and a half to complete), I finally get myself in to see an adviser, and she set me up with my first two classes, American Government 201 and Math 101.

I had to finish setting up my online web adviser account when I got home, and in the process found out that my financial aid was accepted, and I have received a Pell Grant to cover my tuition and books.  I'll even have a little money left over to live on until Fall semester starts.  I'm hoping I can escape having to take out another student loan, but I'm prepared to shoulder the additional debt if necessary.  (I'm still paying off student loans from my first forays into college.)  The biggest difference this go-round is that I'm ready and eager to get back to school.  I can't wait to start my coursework.  I can't wait to be a good student again.  Opportunity knocked and I ushered it in for tea.  We hit it off so well that I was given a door, a door of my very own, which now stands ajar.  So I stuck my foot in it.

And I'm bursting.  I'm bursting at the seams with joy and pride.  For the first time in a very, very long time, I feel like I've accomplished something.  I've set a goal and I've begun the process of meeting that goal.  After I got my test results, I felt like I was capable of anything.  I haven't felt capable of anything in a very long time.  And let me tell you, IT FEELS GREAT!!!!

The Five Year Plan has officially been put into motion!!!