THE test

I got through the class, and learned new tools to help me learn and understand the way most people do.  What was lacking was putting it to use.  I feel those who take this class while they are in school, are better off, as they can put these new skill to use right away.  I however, was looking for a job.

I exchanged emails with my mentor, and kept in touch with her.  She always seemed to have the right timing to email me when I started not using my orientation.   By doing this, I knew she meant that she would help me any time down the road I would need it.  That test came within 6 months of me taking this class.

I mentioned that I had worked for a well-known national brokerage firm, and have my series 7 and 63 licenses. I really didn’t mind leaving that field of work, but when I got a call for an interview from another similar company, I was hesitant.  I knew what the other brokers had to do, and selling was not in my blood.  I could be a great back office worker, but that was it.  However, I needed a job, and this was an interview, so I went in. 

I will be the first to admit here that I was very slow in learning things here.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, as it was so different from the other place that I worked at.  I finally saw how the average American person could save for retirement, where as in most other places, huge amounts of money were needed up front.  The more I understood about this company, the more I liked it, as it opperated the way I thought a company should be.  But there was once catch to this.  I needed to get another license!

This time I had to pay for everything…no company was paying for me to take the exams.  I don’t know if that was a big consideration in the back of my mind.  All I know, was that my mentor said she would help me, and I set up a time to go in.

The subject matter was all new to Cindy.  I could tell quickly that she didn’t have the foundation that I did in that field.  We worked and struggled all day on one chapter. This wasn’t looking good.  But she made a comment somewhere during that day, that this exam was more of a vocabulary exam than anything else.  That comment clicked in my mind.  Remember, you can’t answer the question correctly, if you don’t understand the question.  All these new terms I was learning, I needed to know them forward and backward.  Thus, when they used these terms in question, I would know what they were looking for. 

I study for that exam differently.  I went through each chapter, and took each new term they were explaining, and wrote the definition down.  I know, I should have clayed it, but writing it down took time, and I could internalize it as I was writing it, making it mine.  I owned each definition!  Each chapter had three or more pages of hand written definitions.  I listened to a CD on that course, and stopped it at each new concept, to let it sink in.  Bingo!  I realized something then.  While teachers are good at explaining things, they have to go at a certain pace to cover things for everyone.  People like me would hear an important concept, and write it down, while tuning the teacher out, so we can get that concept firm in our mind.  By the time we were finished with that concept, the teacher would be two, if not three more concepts down the road.  That CD was wonderful.  I went at my pace, paused it, wrote more down, and then started it again.  (I thought to myself, ‘This is what I need, a pause button for my teachers!)

The day of the exam came.  I went in, feeling confident, as I had on all the other exams I took.  But this one was different.  Indeed, it was a vocabulary exam.  I was understanding the questions, and had very little confusion while taking the exam.  I went at a steady pace, and had plenty of time at the end.  I knew better than to go back and review, so I pushed the ‘score’ button, and waited.  Eighty-six percent!  86!!  Can you believe that?  I scored between 60 to 69 percent on all the others, and failed them, as you needed at least 70%, and this one I soared pass the minimum requirement, without any stress!

I thought I could hear my mentor scream from California, where she was when I sent her the text that I has passed!  It was a wonderful feeling, and a confidence booster as well.  Now I could do the other things that needed to be done so I could start working.

Never in a hundred years would I  have thought that the next step would be harder than taking the exam.  But that is just as essential to a dyslexia.

Next blog: Confidence