WPA EXAM ---Take Two

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power,
love and a sound mind. 2Timothy 1:7
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13

This is what I had to keep telling myself as I was going into the WPA exam for the second time. I really did not want to have to take it a third time. Well, this time I was going to do everything I could to make sure I passed. Only it didn't quite turn out that way. Somehow the two dates I had set aside to go to the lectures on how to take it and how to prepare eluded me. Completely slipped my mind. :<>So I did the next best thing and printed off information from the web. All the how to's, tips and such. I checked the web every day so that I could print the article I was supposed to read (they only post it two to three weeks in advance). I read through the article daily, familiarizing myself with it. I went to the writing center and spoke with a tutor about my first exam and what I could do to improve.

I came into the exam with a strategy. I would write a brief summary of the article, what the authors position is, his explanation for that position, my position, and finally my explanation for my position. I told myself I would take up the full two hours we were given, and just take it slow as to not psych myself out. I still had half an hour left in the exam when I finished. I took that time to read and reread my paper, almost three pages (my first try was a page and a half). I printed my paper and turned it in. I proceeded to pray all the way home.

My first time taking the exam I had to read an article about the noble lie, telling someone a false statement for their own good. In this case the noble lie was used in politics to sway the votes. Something like that. Horrible, politics is just not my thing. My score on tht was a 22. :(

This time round the article was easier. It was an article written by Malcolm X. In it he writes about his education and when someone asked him what his alma mater was, he replied "Books". He did a lot of reading while he was in prison, never went to college.

Before typing one word on the computer, I had a peice of scratch paper that I penned a brief outline, something I failed to do the first time. I deviated from the outline some, but I think it helped me stay focused and not jump all over the place like I did before. I still managed to finish with a half an hour remaining, so I read and reread what I wrote to make sure it had no mistakes, and it made sense. Then I turned it in.

I have been afraid to check for my score the past few days. I got the nerve this morning to check, and to my surprise...

I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! May 2006 graduation, here I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!