My "I'm DONE" Thread

[alissaroot]

Ok, first off - CONGRATULATIONS!!! What you have been able to achieve is incredible and you should take yourself out to dinner to celebrate. Somewhere where you are not ordering food in a clown's mouth and not driving while consuming said food (oh, yeah, wait -- that's most of MY dinners). :eek:

However, the thing that I am most impressed with is, not that you were able to do it (cause you seem like the kind of person who can just find a way to make things happen), but the timing of your tests. You did a fantastic job cramming in some difficult tests in a short period of time. You should write a book on how to efficiently study (while fending off a one-year-old) because I would buy it!

Alissa, congratulations on your achievement. I have to say that your story came at a great time for me. I really kind of needed to hear another success-story to get me moving again. Best wishes in your next step!

Kelly

Thank you so much for your warm wishes. I am very pleased to have inspired someone! You can do this!

I relied a lot on DVDs, online lectures, and books on tape (my old car still has a tape deck, heh), just as much as reading or taking notes. My little one doesn't pay much attention to tv or radio, except he now starting to dance and snap his fingers, sooo cute. So I used that for hands-free learning, since I could still play peek-a-boo and such, plus keep the housework to a manageable level, and absorb information at the same time. With my factory closing, the workload has been so light I could do most of my reading while at work, which is not a luxury most people have. Then I read exam descriptions and tried to take all the ones I could with overlap on the same days. If I took a practice test and got more than 50% correct, I scheduled the exam for the next day. I was always surprised when I passed.

My company went ahead and paid us for all vacation time they owed us back in December, so I had a little extra money. I figured I would just try and take as many tests as possible, as quickly as possible, and if I didn't pass some, so what, there are other exams to take instead. I just have that sort of adventurous, dive-right-in spirit, though. I didn't see any reason to be afearin' any little old test. That's all I did, really. Just went and took them, rather than agonize for weeks, and even if I only felt half-ready. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone on a tight budget, though.

Also, my goal was to be done by the end of June, so I took as many as I could cram in around December and January so that if I failed and had to wait six months to retake something, I could still make my deadline. So set a deadline for yourself, if you can, and just go take them. I think one of the main reasons I didn't finish two years ago when I discovered CLEP exams and this forum is because I didn't have a deadline, I just figured I'd study and take them as I could. Other things in life interrupted pretty quickly! So this time, I applied and enrolled at Excelsior as soon as I could, while my energy and motivation was high, and then just put my head down and plowed right on through them. I didn't expect to pass them all, I couldn't believe I did.

I am also fortunate enough to have a very good support system. My son is the first grandchild, and I get a lot of help from my parents and my aunt who lives near me. Tell everyone about all your plans and be very vocal about it, and you may be surprised at how much help you get.

That's all my advice. Not enough to fill up a whole book, and hey, it's free!