Exam

The past few months, I have been studying to take the LEED Green Associates exam, which is the first step to becoming a LEED Accredited Professional. Well, today was exam day. It's a $200 computer-based exam in a special testing center, so the pressure was on to do well.

I usually make sure to prep appropriately before exams, so I have decided to share with you what some of those preparations are.

Caitlin's Tips for Test Taking!

 

1. Wake up early. This is to ensure you leave enough time for items 2-4.

2. Eat breakfast, even if you normally don't. This will give you energy and tell your body, "hey, it's go time!"

2b. Eat a breakfast that has protein (longer lasting energy) and healthy fats (good for your brain). My breakfast was the following smoothie:

• 1 frozen banana
• scoop of hemp protein
• scoop of chia seeds
• handful of almonds
• some cocoa powder
• soymilk
• blend all together and enjoy

3. Dress nicely. I learned this all the way back in middle school. You see, we used to wear uniforms, and the only time we were excused from uniforms were for special dress up days. Normally I would happily participate, but when it came to Pajama Day, Cathie said no way- "pajamas aren't appropriate for school." I think my mom was right. It's hard to set your mind to learn-mode, when your pajamas are telling you it's lounge-mode. Besides, wearing PJs in public makes you act lazy, just look around next time you are on a Southwest flight to Las Vegas. 

3b. Dress comfortably. You may think this contradicts point 3, but it doesn't. I wore loose fitting slacks and a turtle neck- put together, but comfy.

4. Leave early! If you think it will take you 30 minutes to get to the testing center, leave yourself 45. If you arrive early you can always study some more, but if you arrive late you will be frazzled and stressed. 

5. When at the testing center, don't be afraid to speak up if things aren't satisfactory. I will expound. This morning, when I sat down, the woman in the cubicle across from me was typing extremely loudly. She would bang the enter key for a new paragraph and then bang the space bar rapidly five times (guess she didn't know about the tab key). Then her typing sounded like this, "clomp, clomp, comp, space, space, space, WHACK, clomp, clomp, comp, WHACK, etc." It was horribly annoying, so I simply raised my hand and asked to move to another station. 

I should also note that the aforementioned girl was wearing a tank top and sweat pants. Her sloppy outfit definitely contributed to her sloppy typing.

That's basically it. Of course, there's the don't stress, don't cram, etc. Do you have any special tips for test taking?

Oh, and I passed! I got a 93%. I can officially use this logo now.