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Friday, October 14, 2005

My Week... AND Results

Saturday, October 8th 5:41pm: I am sitting in the final debate round at PLNU, with all of my students watching the round intently, my husband by my side and a computer with internet access in front of me... So I start to surf the web. I receive an email from my friend and fellow test taker which goes as follows.
"Erp. I don't even know how you're feeling right now, but I didn't see your name and I hope that means they just forgot. I heard they miss a few names each time. Etiquette as I have heard it is that I shouldn't contact you until the news has settled a bit. :( but you're one of the most positive people I know and I just wanted to write you a note to say how STINKIN LAME that Bar is!!!! I think the results are pretty arbitrary, since a lot of my (smart, A student) friends aren't on that list today. Want you to know I'm thinking of you. When you come to visit or move, I am taking you for a few big fat peachy Bellinis! All you can drink! Feel free to call or whatever if you want. I didn't see Kara's name either, sigh. You know what though, you two have jobs!! ;) I'm still a temping wage slave. Ok, chin up, and go appeal the heck out of that exam! Hugs, Ali"
This is the first inkling that I have that a) the test results are posted and b) that I didn't pass. Fishsticks! (Thank you, Mark) So, paniced I race from my inbox to http://www.wsba.org/ and see that yes, in fact, the results have been posted... and yes, my nightmare had come true. My name is NOT THERE! ANYWHERE. But, I am stuck... sitting in this room, with my students for another 20 minutes because I can't get to an exit without drawing massive attention to myself. I then make the statement to Loving Husband, I didn't pass and point to the screen.
Saturday, October 8th - 6:02pm: I race home to check the mail, the letters were mailed out Friday, there is a slim chance it would have gotten there by then... and then I will know what portion I didn't pass! Nothing... I drag the useless and meaningless mail into the house and cry for a good solid 20 minutes... Then I redo my makeup and go meet my team, PLNU team and the APU team for dinner. Mentioning nothing to anyone.
Saturday, October 8th - 8:30pm: Loving Husband and I make the decision that it is best to go distract me from reality and we head over to Kelley's for a previously arranged game night. We played Cranium and Hoopla until almost 1am. It was a great distraction and I thank them all for helping take my mind off of the horrible way I was feeling.
Sunday, October 9th - 2:00am: I cried for an hour and then I finally got to sleep. I just had this horrid recurring feeling that I spent three months away from my husband for NOTHING.
Sunday, October 9th - All Day: I slept until I couldn't sleep anymore... woke up at 12:30pm. I moped around the house. I watched Cinderella, Toy Story, general cartoons - you name it, I just wanted to do nothing. I wallowed.
Monday, October 10th: I had prearranged for my morning class to be canceled. Check mail! No mail. Check mail again! No mail. Check mail again! No Mail - DAMN IT COLUMBUS! Go shopping with Nikki and Jackie... very therapeutic and fun regardless of my mood. I was starting to feel better.
Tuesday, October 11th: Check mail... NO LETTER. Start voicing my disdain for the USPS. Go off to work and tell my students my results... they are sympathetic and are truly positive that no one passes on their first time. It was refreshing..
Wednesday, October 12th: I was at work from 7am-6pm all the time KNOWING that the letter was sitting in my mail box at home - waiting to tell me finally: a) What I had passed/failed b) If I had failed within a range of appealability c) Where I really stood with it all. I made the decision while I was at work that I would take the exam again - in Winter 2007. The exam is only offered twice a year... Winter and Summer. Well, this winter I am teaching, I refused to waste another summer and thus left me with Winter 2007. So, I drive home... straight to the mailbox. NOTHING FROM WSBA!
Thursday, October 13th: I don't work on Thursdays so I slept in a bit, got up did some stuff online and around 11am went to mail some invites for the party... mail had already come, but again NOTHING! The rest of my day was disgruntled, but productive.
Friday, October 14th: TODAY! I wake up, also after sleeping in a bit. Take care of some stuff for work and more party stuff and take more invites to the mailbox. NOTHING! That's it. I came straight back in the house and called the WSBA. Left a voicemail. Within the next hour the woman called back with the following news:
Ethics Portion - PASSED Substantive Portion - IN THE APPEALABLE RANGE** I was 1.5 points away from passing the exam entirely.
** Appealable range means that IF I am missing up to 3 points from a passing grade I can resubmit up to 6 of the 18 essays for entire regrading. The gamble with that is that the grade can go up or DOWN, since it's an entire REGRADING. You will receive copies of all your answers again and you will choose based on the information you have from the original grader which essays you would like regrarded and HOW MANY you would like regraded.
SO WHERE ARE WE NOW?I will get in the next couple of days the procedures for the appeal process and copies of all 18 of my graded essays. I then will have to sit down and see where it is likely that I can pull another 1.5 points from certain essays. I will have to decide how many essays to submit and the gamble that I would be taking if I submit too many. The appeal is due by Monday,October 24th. I do not yet know when the secondary results would be put forth. So, we're back on the prayer track... Guidance for which essays and how many to submit and for leniency on those ReGraders. Beyond all that I am exhausted from the whirlwind of emotions that this week has put me through. Thank you all for your support thus far. It really has helped and means a lot to me.

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