Hehe, ** I giggle sheepishly** I guess it's been awhile since I've last posted, eh?

Alright, so basically, besides those marvelous interludes where I go to visit Scott or he comes to see me, my life this summer has revolved around one thing: studying. Oh yes. It's not enough to simply graduate from 4 years of nursing school. Oh no. One must then take.....(drum roll please).... THE EXAM!

Yes. Upon graduation from a nursing school but before becoming a licensed RN, one must take a standardized Exam from the National Board of Nursing. Only after passing said Exam will someone be bestowed with the title of Registered Nurse. I, myself, will sit for my boards on July 27th at 10:15am....a day that will live in infamy in my life.

Okay, seems straight forward enough, right? Ahhh..just wait. Now the National Board of Nursing has planned for many years how to make The Exam as complicated as possible and I daresay they have done well. First, I must find one of only 5 testing centers in Indiana. (Oh yeah, and I left out the part about how it is a 2-month process just to register and be approved with permission to even get a chance to attempt The Exam!) Easy enough, there is a testing center in Indianapolis. Right. Well next I must make sure that I take 2 forms of identification, both bearing my signature, one with a current photo of myself. So I'm taking my driver's license. BUT...upon registering to take The Exam, I had to spell my full name exactly as it appears on my photo id. If even one letter is off, like for example my id might say, Cindy Kay Solomon, but I registered as Cindy K. Solomon, my Exam is forfeit. Yes, I know one girl whom that happened to.

But moving on. Being on time is absolutely critical. Late for ANY reason is an automatic forfeit. No exceptions. But let's say I arrive in plenty of time. Once they have established I am the same person who registered, they will take a digital photo of me, then fingerprint me. Both my picture and my fingerprint go into their computer and will become my entrance and exit pass from the center. Upon gaining entrance into the center, I am escorted to a room where I must leave all of my personal belongings such as purse, wallet, etc. I am not allowed to take ANYTHING into the exam room with me. Once my pockets and elsewhere are empty, I am given a bathroom break, then escorted to the exam room. Here, I am once more fingerprinted to make sure I didn't switch places with, say, a look-a-like who was hiding in the bathroom, then I am escorted to a computer in the the exam room. Now this exam room is equipped with security cameras in every corner and the very keyboards themselves will capture my every keystroke to ensure I am not leaving the exam to go check my e-mail or bank statement, or any other pressing matter that I would be tempted to check online during the middle of my nursing exam. uh-huh. yeah.

The Exam itself will be anywhere from 75-295 questions. Basically, I will keep getting questions until the brain inside the computer reaches a decision about whether I am qualified to be a nurse or not. In other words, each individual question is immediately graded by the computer, and the following question is chosen based upon whether I passed or failed the previous question. So I will start out getting an "easy" question. If I pass the "easy" question, the computer decides to give me a more difficult one. If I fail the more difficult one, the computer decides to give me an easier one. And on it goes. In order to pass The Exam, I need to pass a certain amount of the most difficult questions. And potentially, a person could do that in 75 questions, or need all of the 295. The computer shuts off whenever it has enough information to make a decision one way or the other. Ahh...right. More info than you ever cared to know about the nursing exam.

About half-way through the exam, the computer will shut off. This is a forced break where I am required to leave the room for 15 minutes. If, however, I dare leave the testing center during that 15 min. my exam is forfeit. So I suppose I will wander around, take a potty break, and do all sorts of those exciting things you can do in a span of 15 minutes. Once time is up, I must present myself once more to the exam room (God help me if I'm late) and am allowed to enter after my fingerprint is scanned and verified once again. Then back to the computer to finish The Exam. Voila'! I am finished!

Oh, and one more thing, it is at least a week before I will find out if I passed or not. So if you happen to see me in the immediate 7 days following Thursday, July 27th and you think to yourself, "My goodness, she seems to closely resemble a walking zombie!"....well...just know my mind will probably be on other things...like how my life might feel it is on hold during those days, or it is hanging by a thread, or I won't get a job unless I pass, or I can't move to Michigan unless I get a job...etc.

BUT!!!! As my father told me, "This is NOT an oppurtunity to worry; this is an oppurtunity to expand your faith!!!" And so it is. But if you would all join with me in prayer over this exam, I would really appreciate it! And remember Becca Jordan as well, for she will be going through the same thing!