This morning I took the long drive to the other side of the valley to get to Monte Vista High School, the site of all CSET examinations for the South Bay.  I grabbed my usual spot just off campus and studied for about 45 minutes.  When I strolled into the quad, the announcement guy had already started his spiel, about 15 minutes early.  I had heard it before so I didn’t miss anything, and within two minutes, I was sitting in a classroom.  It was so nice to only have one test to worry about.  I didn’t pass this test last time largely because I didn’t have time.  I breezed through all four paragraphs in 20 minutes, basically answering off the top of my head.  No wonder I didn’t pass that section!  It looked like those around me had had the same experience – I counted three other people who were only taking this one subsection.

I was initially excited when I saw the booklet because it said “Test A,” which was the same version I had taken last time.  I knew how to answer all four of those essays, and this time I could spend a lot more time crafting my response.  Alas, this was perhaps this month’s Test A because none of the essay questions were the same.  Still, I knew how to answer all four topics so I started working.  My method this time would be to brainstorm, write everything down that I knew about the topic, then choose the thing I was most knowledgeable on to answer the question.  I had also noticed that the “good” example responses in my study guide all used a particular pattern in responding to the topic, so I would do that as well: State the issue, perhaps state some considerations, state the solution, give an example of how it works, tell why it will work, perhaps give an alternative approach that will also work, conclude by restating the best solution to the problem.  The thing is, you only have one paragraph and maybe fifteen lines to hand-write your entire response so each sentence must be perfect, clear, and succinct.  As a rather verbose writer, this is difficult for me to do.  This is why I chose to actually use all that scratch space in the booklet to work on things before committing it to the answer sheet.

I felt that I had done all four sections thoroughly and relatively quickly (though one essay may lack “purpose” because I answered the question, but not in a way that specifically addressed what the question asked).  I was the first person out the door, beating the other three who were taking the same test.  When I looked up at the clock though, I was really surprised to discover that I had been at this for two hours.  I thought I had finished in about an hour.  Gee, I guess I was having fun and time flew!  It was a rather enjoyable experience, though one I would like to not experience again because I need to pass this test to get a job!  Hopefully, this will be the last of my CSET tests.  I’ll know in a month.