It's a "Good Thing" I love to read!

I had a friend who had been in seminary and I was quizing her before I actually began classes about the amount of work ahead of me. She too, was working a full-time job, and in addition had family responsibilities, and although I don't have children, I too, had family responsibilities! I needed to see what this was going to do to my "social life" (which consisted of church activities and more church activities, along with visiting on a frequent basis with my folks).

This friend told me she averaged about 100 pages a night reading. "Well," I thought, "it could be worse!" (ah...blind faith!)

I will admit, there were days I would get home from work, fix a quick bite to eat and begin reading and think I was never going to get to bed. I would read an average of about 6 hours a night and feel like I had just made a dent in what needed to be done.

Gone were the carefree weekends! I was either reading or writing...or both!

Sometimes, I would read the same paragraph (oh well, let's get honest...sometimes it was the same sentence!) four or five times, to try and grasp what I was reading! I would sit with a dictionary beside me so that I could look up new words and then I would write the definitions in the margins and put a stickynote flag there with the word written on it so I could reference back if need be. I would also stickynote flag things I didn't understand, things I wanted to rememer, things I had questions on. Believe you me...sometimes there were tons of stickynote flags!

One of my big fears is TESTS! I panic when I renew my driver's license. I HATE tests! I fear failure and tests seem to be the way that determine if one is a failure. It all stems back to sixth grade...long story! Anyway, I think the idea of tests frightened me more than anything else. SO..the first test comes along. Now remember, I am taking Old Testament...

We are given a study guide to assist us in preparing for this test. I also find out the test is essay! Well, I am a little relieved, because I can usually write fairly well! Then I look at this study guide. Can you say 'coronary'?

There are like 12 questions on this study guide, and they are not "What was the name of the man who built the BIG boat and took all the animals for a ride while it rained 40 days/nights!"
Fortunately, I get in a good study partnership and study group. We meet and study together for a week or so before the exam.

The big night comes...my heart is racing...adrenaline is pumping...I am reviewing facts in my head. The infamous 'blue books' are passed out... "you have 1.5 hours to complete the exam." I think..."is that all? Surely not! I will need more time than that!" But...surprisingly, I finish within the time limit. I turn the test in, not really sure at all if God knows what God is doing in calling me to go to seminary. My thought process: "I don't think I did well...I didn't answer the questions right...I didn't go deep enough with my answers...I probably royally failed this test!"

Because of the schedule of classes, it is two weeks before I get the test back. The professor passes them out at the end of class, so I have to sit for three hours before seeing how "poorly" I had done. I spent those two weeks wondering if it was too late to get any kind of reimbursement. When I open the blue book and flip to the end of my writing...I see the grade...
A-! A MINUS! I had made an A-! I think you could have either scraped me off the floor, or had to pull me off the clouds! I was ecstatic!

I couldn't wait to call someone and tell them...mainly I just wanted to hear myself say, "I made an A-!"

SO the saga continued throughout school. I never got over test anxiety. And there were only maybe three times that I truly worried about not doing well on a test. In those cases, I was not the only one who worried. Most of the time, I did well; a couple of times, it was only fine.

But as one friend told me..."what do they call the doctor who graduates last in the class?" That person is still called "doctor"...the same goes for "reverend." Well, that is true, but I didn't want to be last...remember, my goal was "With Honors."

Reading, writing, studying, writing, more studying and more reading...all got me through seminary with that 'Cum Laude' on the diploma...

Now we will see where God plans on using me...