A while back, December 1st, to be precise, I walked into my local Prometric testing site at 7:22am with passport in hand, ready to take my second architectural exam. It was Programming, Planning and Practice and I was terrified. The breadth of knowledge needed to take this exam was so vast, not even the Hubble Telescope could spot it all.
After checking in I waited in their giant lobby thinking to myself that it is so huge and under-utilized, as I always have thought. I waited patiently for my turn to go the back and watched people come in. One after the other, it was as if almost every test taker had been there before. The nice gentleman checking everyone in said "back again, I see" to at least 5 people in the 10 minutes I was sitting there. Test taking at Prometric started to feel like a culture that only frequent test takers can take part in. People checked in, put their stuff away, sat down (as far away from anyone else as possible) and stared off into space trying to recall as much information as possible. Well, everyone except for a young man doing yoga within 2 feet of me and a girl who, from what I gathered, was about to take the GRE and was so nervous I started getting nervous for her.
I found myself wanting to ask the other test-takers "what are you in for?" but to my surprise and delight, the man doing yoga, wearing what I think was a kaftan jumpsuit, French-rolled at the bottom, asked me! It got everyone talking, and sure enough, everyone but the GRE gal had been there before for exam after exam after exam. I felt comforted by this and the realization that I might fail this test melted away.
Not too long after that conversation ended it was my turn to get the metal detector wand waved around my body and all of my pockets pulled inside out. It was the same squirrely man as last time. After I passed that test I sat down in the well-worn office chair ready to get my finger prints and picture taken and then assigned a computer. It was the same woman as last time! And she was wearing the exact same blazer and head band!! It was at the moment that I realized that I, too, was wearing the EXACT same outfit that I had worn to take the previous exam that I passed. Whoa! (no idea why I remember stuff like this, but I do...). I immediately got superstitious. I said to myself, if I pass this I will wear my owl shirt from Target, jeans, boots and maroon sweater the next time, no question. I will have the same snack at my scheduled break and I will go to Starbucks afterwards and order a grande nonfat latte, as I have done before and will definitely do this time. But what if the "wand guy" isn't there and what if "head band girl" isn't wearing her headband, will I fail? My mind COULD and WILL go a little too far, but for now my newly found rituals are working because I passed that exam!
Boy, that felt good! I later learned that the first two exams I took and passed have the lowest pass rates. Smooth sailing from now on, I suppose...yeah right. I know what's coming and how tough it's going to be. Up next: Site Planning and Design.
Happy New Year!
