Rejuvenated and ready to go

I have been meaning to update this for a while now, but clearly have not. I re-took the MAT this last Wednesday. I prayed, I studied and I got a priesthood blessing. I went into the test knowing that if I did not make it this time, that I was going to call it good... at least for a while. There were many questions which if left to my own knowledge I would not have known. Gratefully I was not left to my own devices. The first time that I took it, I scored in the 22%, the second time was 34% I needed to be at 40% or above. I neglected to study the night before, but surprisingly was not terribly nervous. I took the exam, finished in just around an hour. Generally you get 60 minutes, but because of the fact that I am ADD, Dyslexic and have test anxiety, I got more time for which I am grateful. I did not feel rushed or anything, just confident that I had done my best. I finished with a score of 402. The proctor said that that was a good score, so that made me feel good. It was in deed a good score, good enough to get me a 46% and beat out my boss. I currently work two jobs, and I had to go to one shortly after finishing the test, but first I had time to run home and ask my roommate "Who has two opposable thumbs and just passed her test?" We were excited together. I then emailed the school and asked what I needed to do to reapply. I was so excited. I had prepared myself either way, weather I did well or not, knowing that I could not just call in to work. When I went into my second job, the one with the boss who had also taken the exam, he asked how I had done. I just grinned and said I PASSED. I then started jumping up and down saying that I had done better than he had. Everyone was so excited, it was even mentioned in our store meeting on Friday. I am so excited to move on with this chapter of my life. The school did say that if my letters of recommendation are more than a few months old then it would be in my best interest to change them. The crazy thing is... I feel good about them all... still.

Surroundings

I had posted on a social networking sight that I had graduated from a fully accredited university and in a way was rubbing it in the face of those who never believed that I would make it. To which, a friend made a comment that got me thinking. Within the community in which I live, this crazy phenominon happens. If you are male and you do not serve a full two year mission for the LDS church, your prospects decrease dramatically. If, on the other had, you are female and serve an 18 month mission, your prospects go down. To compound that, if you graduate from college it goes down even more. I am also planing to attend Graduate School, which means that my prospects will go down even more. I would like to some day marry and have a family, but at the same time, I am not willing to stop my dreams just to keep my options open.
Keeping all of this in mind, with all of the wonderful people that I am surrounded by I have been able to see some wonderful men and find some great qualities that I want in my future husband. Most recently, I want for him to have a sence of urgency with respect to his testimony and responsibilities. I want for his family to be the center of his world. I love my family. We have our querks, as all families do but when it comes down to it, we love each other. And when my future husband and I start our family I want for us to be the center of his world. While having a sence of urgency I also want for him to have a great respect for women and all at the same time, I want for him to be able to have fun. Is all of this too much to ask for? Again, I have been blessed to be surrounded by some great men and each of these things are drawn from one of more of these men. For those of you who are great men who understand the greatness of a woman, wonderful. For those of you who do not, perhaps you should learn.

Dyslexia?

At work we have this great thing where we do mock job interviews. Yup, we get paid to find another job and it is great. I have so many resources at my disposal that I can not even describe. I went into one of these interviews one day, and we are supposed to treat them like a real interview, dressed up, resume in hand, the whole nine yards. So I went in and one of the questions was about a weakness that I have over come, and the first thing that came to my mind was dyslexia. To that I got a slap on the wrist. Not literally, but pretty close. One of the boss' was siting there and he said something that struck me. He said that in all of the time that he has worked with me, and in everything that I have written, if he did not know that I was dyslexic he would not have known. I thought that that was so great. It truly is a weakness that has become a strength and I am so proud of it, but not something to be brought up in an interview.

Take 3

Well, now that I have graduated the next step is to take the Miller Analogies Test.... again... for the third time. It has been so frustrating to take the test again and again and, yes.. my score has increased significantly, but three times. Good grief. One of the managers that I work closely with took the same test once, four years out of school and passed, barely, but passed. I am fresh out of school but I can't manage. I am studying hard, and hoping that I can do it this time. I know that I can. I was given the advise to get through the end of my last semester and then study my little heart out. I was banking on having a few weeks to study. As it turns out, I found out today that the latest that I can take the MAT and have the score go in on time is next Wednesday. For those of you counting, that is less than a week from today. To say that I am slightly freaked is an understatement. I called my mom today and all she said was "Well, at least you do not have much time to freak out." Again, I don't get tragedies, I get hiccups. Which, is ironic because at the time of this writing I have hiccups and if you know me, you know that I may be little but my hiccups and sneezes are anything but little.

Graduate

I graduated from the University yesterday. It has been a wonderful weekend full of family, family and more family... also a big giant triumph. As I entered the quad yesterday morning, placing my cap on my head, with the tassel on the left side and putting on my robe for the traditional three block march across campus, it all felt so real. The keynote speaker and the valedictorian were both great, but I think that the thing that will continue to stick with me is the feeling of fulfillment. I made it. I am a first generation college graduate on my mother's side, and second generation on my father's. Someone said yesterday in one of the ceremonies that only about 2% of the worlds' population has a college degree. I am one of those few.