One more to go...

So I was scheduled to take two anesthesia exams on Thursday, a written and a clinical. The written has to be passed BEFORE you can take the clinical. I failed the written exam, which meant I did not get the chance to take the clinical. I was EXTREMELY blessed to be able to get on the computer right away, and try to find a testing center nearby to retake it, so I wouldn't have to fly to Washington, or New Mexico or something. There was one in Orem, but the deadline for application had passed. There were still spots available, so I called the testing agency, and the lady said if I put my application in by 1:30 I could sign up for the exam. So I did. And I now have an email confirmation. This will mean I take the exam the weekend after graduation in April. A setback yes, but since the results for this exam are instantaneous, and I won't have my license processed by then anyway, it really won't be a big deal. The $475 to retake it? Kind of a big deal. Upon receiving my exam failure paper I was....shocked, but not surprised. It was a REALLY hard exam, and I know the other girls, although relieved to have passed themselves, will definitely agree with me. A couple other girls didn't pass as well, which shouldn't make me feel any better...but it does. And it makes me grateful that I will have a study group as well. It was a hard exam. I keep telling myself that. It was more than a little rough though. I didn't cry at the school, but at soon as I told Sterling I started bawling. And then continued to have nervous breakdowns for the next day and a half. Sterling even called me at work the next afternoon and told me that if I needed to have any more "anesthesia breakdown" another girl had shown up at work, and he could come home if I needed him too. I love that man. I think its just because I am so used to being the top of everything scholastically, it shook me quite a bit. But I'm okay now, I have another date scheduled, and it really will be fine.

I took my clinical dental hygiene exam two days later, on Saturday. My patient (who I had called THREE TIMES the day before) showed up only minutes after I got there at 6:50 in the morning! Bless her heart! Prof. A who is absolutely AMAZING, came and did my anesthesia for me. I called her the day before, and telling her I failed my anesthesia exam was like telling my mother all over again. But she was so kind about it, and I am so thankful to her. Everything for my dental hygiene clinical went really smooth. My patient didn't qualify on her first submission, but she did on her second...which basically means that I had to do four extra teeth, and I got a four point reduction...but it really was okay. The anesthesia was fabulous(she's a pretty jumpy patient) and I felt like I had the time I needed, the paperwork went WAY EASIER than mockboards, and all in all, I really felt good about it. I find out if my feelings are justified in a couple weeks. Lets just hope, cause this was the REALLY expensive and difficult exam, cause I had to find a patient and everything.

Now I have one more exam to go...on Wednesday. I don't know who will be more relieved, me, or Sterling. He thinks the program is "sucking all the life and happiness out of me and leaving me a little, hollow, shell of a man". He calls me a man sometimes. Not sure what I think about that. Haahaa. He has been an absolute angel through all of this. I, on the other hand, have been WAY more emotional than usual-I surprise even myself, cause I am usually so emotionally STABLE. If waffles don't turn out, I cry. If I lose something, I cry. If he looks at me funny, I cry. Haahaa--actually I said that because I watched Wyatt's girls last night, and so he fed me dinner, and after dinner Lindsay Ann was bathing the girls and I could hear this wailing from the tub...and I asked Lindsay Ann what was wrong with Hailey and she said "Cassidy looked at her funny." Haahaa. So funny.

So I know this has been a long saga, and probably nobody really read all of it, but lets just say, having all of these tests in one week was the worst idea anyone ever had, I am sad I didn't pass anesthesia, but relieved to have another month to study, and I am SO HAPPY for all the warm, summer days that are coming up when I don't have to be in school and studying and taking tests. It'll happen someday. I can do it. I went to a marrieds fireside tonight (by myself, sterling was at work) and the speaker said "There's some things I just can't do anything about, and being ugly's one of them." But education is something I can do something about...and someday this semester will just seem like a little bump in the road(thanks Shaylee's mom for putting it into perspective). Now. To study. One more exam this week.

Studying, Studying

I thought I would get more and more frantic as the tests came closer and closer. Really, I'm just ready for it all to be over. Unfortunately, that attitude isn't very helpful in getting me into cram-study mode. It is Sterling's Spring Break, and as such, he is working 9-hour shifts every single day except Sunday and Thursday....because he is my anesthesia patient for my exam on Thursday. Which will only take about ten minutes. But I previously didn't know my time for the exam, and so I had him take the entire day off. It's probably going to be the most stressful day because there are two exams, and the clinical is predicated on the written.
Exams in my future go as follows:
Thursday-written anesthesia exam at 8:30am. IF I pass this exam (I have two chances...well, if I don't pass and pay another $120 I have two chances) and only then, I will take my clinical anesthesia exam at 2:35. Inbetween that time I have a clinic orientation. This is mostly for students from out-of-state who are coming in to take the exam, but we are required to be there.

Saturday-clinical dental hygiene exam. This exam starts at 7am, and I am pretty confident that once my patient is qualified....IF she qualifies....I'm easy sailing, because I have two and a half hours to clean what I can usually clean in 20-30 minutes. But it has to be perfect, or I don't pass. Not passing this exam would mean that I don't graduate and I don't get a license. This exam will be over by 11:30am.

Following Wednesday: written dental hygiene exam. This begins at 7:30 am and is an all-day experience. I don't even remember how many questions are on this exam, but it is comprehensive of everything I've learned since my prerequisite classes. Funnily enough, I'm not too worried about this exam. I should be. This is the material that has suffered because of my lack of focusing due to getting married. What is hopefully reassuring to me is that you only have to get a 75%, and usually twenty questions get thrown out. Now, twenty questions out of hundreds may not be many....but here's hoping.

So basically....I am FREAKED about Thursday. This may be the cause of my many emotional breakdowns. I don't remember what the first one was about. The second one was because I lost my temple recommend, the third one was because I felt bad that I was having so many emotional breakdowns, and then we went to Wyatt and Lindsay Ann's and watched Seasons of the Heart and I practically bawled through the entire thing yesterday. Sigh. Luckily, this morning has been super productive, I'm already half-way through what I had designated for myself today, which means I'll probably get further than anticipated, which is very happy.

Then, after next Wednesday, I have a couple papers, one exam for a class, and GRADUATION! In the meantime, I have a new calling, our membership records have arrived, I've already been asked to do a musical number (luckily I'm married to Sterling and I can con him in to helping me) and I'm supposed to be finishing up all my resume stuff so I can get a job!