Y'all, yesterday was WILD. Don't get excited; I mean WILD by my standards. 😂
First of all I think that due to my anxiety medication I wasn't feeling especially anxious, but I could NOT sleep the night before my exam. I tried. I laid in bed with my eyes shut. I took Melatonin. I tried reading myself to sleep on a dark screen (that usually does it). But nothing worked. So yesterday - the morning of my test - I finally got out of my bed and all I had was brain fog. GREAT start, Blu.
I studied a little here and there but overall tried not to stress myself. I went to the kids house to take the exam because we have terrible internet out here in Talladega so I knew that wasn't going to work. Kira was nice enough to let me use her bedroom (my old bedroom). It was away from the TV as well as light and bright and familiar.
I'd taken tests for school with the teacher watching us via our built-in webcams thanks to the pandemic, but this exam required a separate webcam looking at us with a side view from about 6 feet away. The setup required for that took some preparation. We got it all set where it could see the things required and then I banished my phone to the living room with Shaun and the kids so I could log in and get started.
For anyone unfamiliar with online testing this exam was conducted using Sentinel - a software that basically locks down your computer screen to only the testing window. That was all fine and good except that I waited for 45 minutes to be verified and checked in (more on that later) before I got bored of waiting and asked Shaun for my phone. (Note that they said they were experiencing a high testing volume and that my wait could be more than 15 minutes.) Upon getting my phone I checked my email and had received over 30 minutes prior a message stating that there was a problem with my connection and to contact tech support.
So I exited the browser and contacted tech support. We did some troubleshooting with my webcams, she (THANKFULLY) rescheduled my exam for a few minutes away (instead of some other day), and I tried again. Aaaand... my computer froze up entirely before I got to the testing window. I waited, hoping it would un-freeze. No such luck. Finally, I restarted it and tried AGAIN. Got much further in the process, but lost the connection again. Shoot me. I was just about to close the browser and contact tech support again when I got a message window with a person asking to verify me. That was a whole thing.
Earlier we'd carefully set up so that the webcam could see me from 6 feet away. The verification process didn't give a shit about that. 😂😂😂 Have you ever tried to look at a screen (to line up your face in a green box) and a 6-feet-away webcam (that has to see you up close) at the same time? I called Shaun in the room to help me. Then I had to show the webcam my ID... but they made us turn auto-focus off so that was a whole thing, too. Then I had to use the webcam to show ALL of the room (walls, floor, ceiling, testing area... even my glasses) to be verified. Finally, I had Shaun put it back about where we had it in the beginning so I could start my test.
Ok, as annoying as it was, all of that is good to know. Next time I'll just have the external webcam at the top of my screen until after I show my face and my ID and pan around the room. Maybe we'll just figure out where it needs to sit to see me the best and mark it with some tape beforehand so I'll know where to put it after all of the verification is done.
FINALLY, almost an hour and a half after my originally scheduled test time I started my test. I knew ahead of time that the test had 60 questions and that to pass I needed 70%, or 42 questions correct (meaning I could miss 18). I went through and did the ones I knew for sure and marked the others for review. I had 23 that I wasn't sure on. I basically logic-ed my way through those. They don't give us a percent or a chance to see what we missed. All I know is that I passed.
You would think that after ALL OF THAT I'd be celebrating. Well, I was happy but I also know that I get let-down migraines after a stressful time is over so I came prepared with my medication. I already had a headache creeping in so I took it and Shaun got us some tasty food to celebrate and then I basically crashed out. After no sleep the night before and the stress of even getting to the exam - much less the taking of it - I was done for. I texted a few people and that was it for me. I slept SO LONG, but I needed it.
Now I'm off to water some plants and chill. I would like to update my resume and all that, but it can wait. I have thirsty plants and I've spent too much time on the couch (studying) as it is. So today is a good day to move my body, I think. I hope you all are doing well! ❤
