Testing for TOEFL

Today I took a standardized test.  This is my inner old lady coming out, but I seem to remember in my day that standardized tests were not as corporately controlled nor was it such a process and check in security as they were in my day.  The last time I took a standardized test, I was still in high school taking the SAT.  On that day twenty plus years ago, I was shuffled into a large lecture hall at a local public high school with about seventy five to a hundred high school juniors and seniors (none of which I knew) who remained in relative silence.  You could see the range of emotions in the eyes of them, which varied from anxiety to apathy, as we were designated to our seats.  I listened to the instructions of the monitoring person, then began in the language arts area and leading into the math section.  On occasion the monitoring individuals would pause at the end of the rows, of which I was on the end of, silently checking up on the test takers.  I don't remember much about the test questions or feeling much of anything except for a sense of relief once the test was completed, then I drove home.  I also don't remember what my final score was on the test, except that I obviously did not get the blessed perfect 1600 that only a handful of individuals across the nation get every year.  What I did remember, oddly enough, when it came to the SAT was the performance of another individual.  A family that we knew growing up who was concerned with social climbing and one upmanship (if that's a word) did not make her SATs public knowledge.  She kept retaking them throughout the year in the hopes of getting a higher score.  This was rather odd, as the mother was so open about boasting about how wonderful her foul mouthed, using daughter was that she would tell her coworkers that her daughter's urine contained an abundance of protein in it but was not going to reveal her charmed SAT scores.  But that's another sordid tale.




When I arrived at the crack of dawn to take the TOEFL exam in order for me to license myself to be able to teach ESL officially.  I did not sleep at all last night because I was pent up with anxiety about taking it.  I was, however, confident that I would do a good job on it.  I have always been articulate and able to decipher the academic code of what is or isn't to be done or said, this is evident in reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, which is what I was going to be tested on.  I would be reading and listing and speaking and listening to academic and conversational passages that would test these abilities.  Once I got there, I was not quite ready for the security measures that the test takers would undergo.  I had to take off my jacket, hat and scarf and hang them up in the closet, which was fully expected.  I was given a lock and key to keep any bags in, and I also had to empty my pockets.  I was not allowed to wear a watch or anything metal on my person.  A metal detector wand was passed over me, the only metal on me was on my belt but I was not required to take that off.  I was not allowed to bring a pen or pencil into the room, they were presharpened and handed to me personally by the test monitor.  One also had to present an ID (I had my passport) upon entry and exit to the official testing room.  A grainy picture was taken of me so that they had a record of my image on file, and then I was escorted to the cubical where I took the test on their uploaded computer.  You'd think I was in prison or something.  One thing that was nice was the addition of headphones.  One you had to listen to for test taking purposes (listening and speaking), and another was available to block out all sounds and help you concentrate better.  I'd always been one of those who was easily distracted by sounds and visions around me so that was a welcome addition to the test taking environment.


In general, I did pretty well with the test.  I ran out of time with the reading section and did not answer the final two questions, breezed through the listening section, only flubbed one speaking question, and I did a bang up job on the writing section.  Sometimes even in the best of circumstances you don't always do your best, the language can trip you up and you get stuck on a question or two.  After it was all over (after 4 hours), I was burned out.  I drove home, cleansed my body, and had a nice four hour nap.  I'm still tired, my sleep schedule is all off now.  I don't have the energy to go out and make the scene tonight.  I'm not cool anymore so it's ok to stay in on a Saturday night if you don't feel like going out.  Four to six weeks before I get my reply from ETS.  There's always graduate school.