At the completion of each ARE Licensure exam NCARB asks the test taker if they felt that they have passed...on the day of my last exam I checked "No" for the first time.
During my mandatory break, in the middle of the Site Planning and Design exam, I stood at the window for 12 minutes watching the snow fall; I didn't move. As it accumulated on the ground, so did my doubts about the Multiple Choice portion of the exam that I just endured. As I told my coworker when I returned: "it was horrible, in every sense of the word."
I think I actually knew maybe a third of the material. The second third was kind of of common sense enough that I felt comfortable to guess and the final third I had never seen before! I decided to brush it off because the worst was yet to come...the vignettes. dun dun dun....
Turns out the vignette portion wasn't all that bad. I completed the Site Grading in under 15 minutes and knew I had come up with an appropriate solution that met all the requirements.
The Site Design vignette was the one I was most worried about. I practiced for a good portion of Friday, Saturday and Sunday and was confident I could solve the problem. Half of the battle is taking notes on this one and I had my method down. The program made it pretty black and white; with the given constraints there was really only one solution. So, great! right? wrong.
I was certain that the vignette would cause me to fail and break my winning streak. I did not expect it to be the multiple choice! Not even wearing the same outfit that I had passed in previously could ensure a pass. I knew the jig was up when I walked into the back room of Prometric and the usual "wand guy" and "check-in gal" weren't there. There was still a chance that my "lucky latte" did the trick :)
Two weeks later I learned that I had passed! I was so excited that I hugged one of my coworkers! I think I would have hugged them all, given the chance :)
The significance of the blog title grew when I came into work this morning and asked Natalie how her exam went. She was scheduled to take Construction Documents and Services (CDS) yesterday; her first exam.
She started in on her story with "Well, Saturday night I got the email reminder that my test was scheduled for Monday..." Then she explained living through one of my greatest fears...the test she actually signed up for was Building Design and Construction Systems rather than Construction Documents and Services!!!!!
She has studied for CDS for several weeks and was completely confident in taking that exam. All of this derailed by the need to find materials and study for a completely different exam in one day. After hearing a story that continued to make my jaw drop and eyes barely blink, I asked "Do you think you passed?" She said, "ya know, I think I did" and I believe her. It seemed as if Natalie's career thus far had fully prepared her for that grueling moment, with a little help from Jenny, of course. I honesty think that I will be reporting back in a couple weeks with the good news that she passed.
So, what about CDS? you might be asking. Well, she's taking it this Thursday. Good Luck, Natalie!
As for me, next week I take Schematic Design; no multiple choice, just 6 fun-filled hours of vignettes.
