BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
I made this article to share my personal experience on both worlds with regards to most of us (nurses) call, "NCLEX time". Why both worlds? Well, to be honest, I got both the ups and downs of it. To further elaborate, here's my story...
After taking my local board exam last year, I prepared myself for the next ultimate exam, THE NCLEX. I went to one of the famous review center (one of the most expensive too) and studied there for three months. A typical student usually has their own way of studying. Each of us has a different style when it comes to studying. Some prefer to study until dawn, some only at night, while some during the day. I did the latter. Our study habits can really reflect our ways of acquiring knowledge. In 24 hours of the day, we manage to conquer our own time wherein we can study more effectively. It’s where we can recall what we had read so far. So, anyway, my study habit was during the office hours (8am - 5pm) only, 7 days a week. Every night, I would listen to my audio NCLEX reviewer after a day's work in the review center. I managed to have a regular sleeping habit (at least 7-8 hours of sleep). This ritual went on for the next few months. I started form the basics and foundation to every major topics of nursing. The review center has this exam every time we finished a certain chapter. It’s like a gauge meter for us if we are doing well. To tell you frankly, I never reached the safe mark of passing during the chapter exams, hehehehe. But it never disappoint me, instead, I just went on studying especially on my weak points. Then came the exam day, its true that anxiety really blows you off especially the night before the big day, and when your exam was in the morning. I had a hard time sleeping (thanks to anxiety). However, in cases like these, "FOCUS" was my bestfriend. It controlled some of my anxiety. It’s always within ourselves to get full control of every situation that we may encounter. It really depends on how we control it - take full control of your emotions and never let anxiety get hold of you. So, there I was, in the middle of the exam room, took a deep breath, said a prayer, and started the thing that I was preparing for the last several months. Guess what? My exam lasted for 5 hours and 275 items. You could only imagine how exhausted I was after. I won’t be discussing the specifics of my exam for the purpose of security protocols of NCLEX, but I had a tough one. It was chaos! I was not sure if I answered most of it correctly. I remember the "Quicksand story" in one of the famous movie from Keannu Reeves, it’s about making a mistake in a game, and trying to do it right then came another mistake, and another, and another. The more you fight back, the deeper you fall. No matter how much you correct it, panic started to conquer you- like quicksand. When I was through, I was the only one left in the exam room.
I made this article to share my personal experience on both worlds with regards to most of us (nurses) call, "NCLEX time". Why both worlds? Well, to be honest, I got both the ups and downs of it. To further elaborate, here's my story...
After taking my local board exam last year, I prepared myself for the next ultimate exam, THE NCLEX. I went to one of the famous review center (one of the most expensive too) and studied there for three months. A typical student usually has their own way of studying. Each of us has a different style when it comes to studying. Some prefer to study until dawn, some only at night, while some during the day. I did the latter. Our study habits can really reflect our ways of acquiring knowledge. In 24 hours of the day, we manage to conquer our own time wherein we can study more effectively. It’s where we can recall what we had read so far. So, anyway, my study habit was during the office hours (8am - 5pm) only, 7 days a week. Every night, I would listen to my audio NCLEX reviewer after a day's work in the review center. I managed to have a regular sleeping habit (at least 7-8 hours of sleep). This ritual went on for the next few months. I started form the basics and foundation to every major topics of nursing. The review center has this exam every time we finished a certain chapter. It’s like a gauge meter for us if we are doing well. To tell you frankly, I never reached the safe mark of passing during the chapter exams, hehehehe. But it never disappoint me, instead, I just went on studying especially on my weak points. Then came the exam day, its true that anxiety really blows you off especially the night before the big day, and when your exam was in the morning. I had a hard time sleeping (thanks to anxiety). However, in cases like these, "FOCUS" was my bestfriend. It controlled some of my anxiety. It’s always within ourselves to get full control of every situation that we may encounter. It really depends on how we control it - take full control of your emotions and never let anxiety get hold of you. So, there I was, in the middle of the exam room, took a deep breath, said a prayer, and started the thing that I was preparing for the last several months. Guess what? My exam lasted for 5 hours and 275 items. You could only imagine how exhausted I was after. I won’t be discussing the specifics of my exam for the purpose of security protocols of NCLEX, but I had a tough one. It was chaos! I was not sure if I answered most of it correctly. I remember the "Quicksand story" in one of the famous movie from Keannu Reeves, it’s about making a mistake in a game, and trying to do it right then came another mistake, and another, and another. The more you fight back, the deeper you fall. No matter how much you correct it, panic started to conquer you- like quicksand. When I was through, I was the only one left in the exam room.
Then there’s this agony of waiting for the result. Two things were in my mind, passed of failed? Some say that we should expect for the worst, some would say hope for the best. Which one should be followed? Well, I'd say, make a back-up plan. There's always a second chance. If we did our best from our 1st try and failed, there's always a tomorrow to redeem yourself. Don’t waste your time making regrets (I should have...), instead modify and move on. So, at last the result came. it was a big brown envelope. I failed. Its true that our emotions affects our judgment, our actions and our ego. Most of us can be depressed while few of us just shrugged it off (denial? hahahaha).
The day after I received my result, I started to review again. I think I tuned myself not to be affected by it and just do what all of us would not do, STUDY. Again, prepare yourself for another battle. Its not over yet. This time, I made some few changes. I did not attend to any review centers. Self-study, hehehehe. I borrowed a book (which was great!) and contemplate. Everyday, i muse from 8am to 5pm. I still listen to my audio reviewer at night before I sleep and answered a few practice exams on my computer. Whenever I got tired, I still watched DVD movies or even played my game console. This ritual went on for 7 days a week. If you wonder, do I still have a social life? Absolutely. I had some time-outs too. It’s part of my routine. I still have this goal to pass my next NCLEX.
The exam day. Again. There I was in the familiar exam room, anxiety was still there nevertheless, I was still in control. START...
My exam stopped at item 78. It lasted for one and half hour. As I was walking on the sidestreet of Makati, tears were rolling down my face, oblivious from the stares of people around. Wow, I reached my goal. I think "quicksand" made a run for its money. After some thought, I recollect my exam questions but it was hard to know if I did answered it right. But, what the hell! I did my best and just waited for the result.
The envelope please! Then it came. A small white envelope. I passed. Whahahahaha! I did it! I cried like a child. Tears of joy? Maybe, but its hard to tell. Mixed emotions, I guess.
Why Best of Both Worlds? Well, it turned out that both worlds (passed and failed) reflected my own preference to deal both of them. Learning from the first one and established a new one. We have a choice to make and that choice is to whether we throw in the towel or go on fighting. It doesn’t also mean that we should all self-study or we should attend a review center, its a matter of choice. The only important thing is what we learn from it. There are a lot of strategies on how we can acquire knowledge, and it’s up to ourselves to make the most of it.
May this personal experience give an inspiration to those who are in both worlds.
Note: This is a story of “someone” who with all humility requested not to post his name as author of this article. The author wants this article be posted to serve as an inspiration to everyone. To the author: We congratulate you for passing the NCLEX and more than that, we congratulate you for the Inspiration and for the heart of service. You really are Making a Difference.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, September 6, 2008
at Saturday, September 06, 2008
and is filed under
SPICES
. You can follow any responses to this entry through the
comments feed
.
