As I entered the examination room, I was expecting to find some kind of examination guide or book to help me pass, but there was nothing – just a bunch of charts and graphs. So I sat down, crossed my legs, and prepared myself to spend about an hour of my time figuring out what I needed to study. I picked up my jeans, which were in my back pocket since I did not want to be confined to the testroom. I put on my skinny jeans, also in my back pocket because I did not want to have to walk all over town or go to a store before I could complete my work. And I wore my NRE’s, which are really tight.
I made sure that I had everything I needed before going into the restroom. I picked up my reference book, turned it to read, and then walked in a straight line to the exam area. When I was asked to stand in front of the computer, I noticed that the exam papers were covered with what looked like dry ice. I assumed that they must be used in labs or technical school. The stench of the dry ice was very hard to bear, so I politely asked the nurse who I was in front of, if I may take a paper. She told me no, so I simply wrote down her number on the dry ice and the name of the nurse, who was in front of me, and took two deep gulps of my ezy jean.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the stench went away. Once the nurse who was in front of me turned around to look at me, she said, “Oh, sorry.” I replied, “I just took the test. Can I take another one?”
I was promptly ushered into a room where there were about fifteen other students sitting in chairs around a large desk. I noticed that the girls were all wearing the same outfit: white lab coats and dark shoes with black belts. They were all looking at me and saying, “You took the test, didn’t you? You are a smart boy.” I replied, “I am not stupid, but I think I might have underestimated the difficulty of the exam.
I quickly scanned the names on the test page and identified each of the ten subjects that I was going to be tested on: Arithmetic, Algebra, chemistry, science, and even the Physiology test. It was at this point that the girl in front of me handed me the HESI exam stc. I read the test and immediately noted that it had little to do with arithmetic and that the topics on the exam did not sound too difficult. I tried to find the section that would be challenging and then came upon the following words: “inductions”, “systems” and “mathematics”. I instantly felt the dread of not knowing anything about these topics and therefore had no hope of passing the exam.
The HESI exam it consists of fifty multiple-choice questions that must be answered within a period of sixty seconds. I began to realize that I was simply not going to be able to manage the time allotted on the exam. I had thirty seconds to prepare, so I began to pace my own desk, double checking to make sure that I had covered all the topics that the teacher wanted me to. I soon discovered that the majority of the questions on the exam were not difficult at all. They were worded in a way that made it easy for me to understand but did not make it sound like an official test. This realization was a huge relief, because I had absolutely no idea how to answer these tricky math questions.
Finally, after studying for the exam for nearly two hours, I was finally ready to take the test. I was extremely nervous as I waited for the doors to open at the end of the test room, but was able to stay calm by answering the questions patiently. I was very surprised at just how well I performed, despite having only studied for a few hours. My grades on the test were very good, and I passed with flying colors. I was able to complete the entire exam in less than one hour, which is really amazing considering that I had been studying for over two months prior to taking the test!
