PASS - FAIL

Our society has few educational paths that end in a PASS/FAIL exam. I followed one of those paths many moons ago. It is quite the ordeal. You start knowing that you are embarking on a long, tortuous journey of study and hitting the books. In my particular path there were three schools you had to graduate from.

Test Day for the third and final school is tortuous. You have watched 2/3rds or more of you fellow student fail already. You know you have reached the final hurdle. You don't study this day. You just wait for it to begin. You step into a room with three board members. They proceed to assault you with questions. Draw this, what is this equation, how does it relate to this, why, how, when, where, what. There is no time to think and ponder, no saving that question for last, you know it or you don't. All of your efforts got you into this room standing before these men who will decide if you PASS or FAIL.

When the test is over you are sent outside and told to wait. That wait was only half an hour but it seemed like days. If you fail this test there is no retest. If you fail than you have just wasted all that time and effort.

This test I passed. I went on to find there are always more tests, though none quite like this one.

My friend BS took a similar test recently. State BAR. The test you must take to become a lawyer even though you've already graduated. It is a PASS/FAIL test. They make you wait months for your results. The good news is you can retake it if you fail. The bad news is you have to wait forever. Thursday was the day he found out if he Passed or Failed. What a day that must of been. To his credit he PASSED.

Congratulation's sir! You are now a member of an elite few. You have accomplished what only a handful of Americans ever will accomplish. No matter what you do from this point forward, you always have that. You always have the knowledge that you have succeeded where many have failed.

Enjoy your moment of success. You have earned it.

Don't worry, there will be more tests, but none of them like this one.