Wednesday News

"But what if I make a mistake?" Will asked.

Gilan threw back his head and laughed. "A mistake? One mistake?
You should be so lucky. You'll make dozens! I made four or five on
my first day alone! Of course you'll make mistakes. Just don't make
any of them twice. If you do mess things up, don't try to hide it.
Don't try to rationalize it. Recognize it and admit it and learn
from it. We never stop learning, none of us."

John Flanagan
Erak's Ransom

 

Good morning everyone, and a blessed one it is. Had a rough night last night, major pain flare, but all seems to be good this morning. Today my class doesn't begin until 12:10 so I have some time this morning to get a few things done. I usually cook the veggies and fix the plates before I go so I don't have to worry about it when I get home and can take a snooze if I want.

Ralph is taking his shower and is off to motor vehicles this morning to take the tests for his CDL license. He passed his physical yesterday and  studied late into the night. His  is feeling pretty anxious right now. I told him to stop thinking he will fail and think positive. After all, he only had one day of class and passed the practice exam that most of his classmates studied for a month.

But, I do know how he feels. I remember how I felt the day I took all my exams. Talk about nerves. Especially when I went for the oral on my CASAC. They used to have both an oral where you had to take a case from the day the client walks in until they complete your program. All the core competencies had to be included. Once we passed that we had to take a multiple choice test which didn't phase me at all.

But the oral. Oh, what a wreck I was...and to make it even more stressful, I had the worst cold I'd had in years. I was coughing, sneezing, had a runny nose, sore throat, cold chills. You name it and I had it. And I had to stand in front of 3 stoic faced men who where not allowed to show me any emotion, not a hello, not even a smile. They had to do it that way so as not to let on your passing or failure. Well, despite how I was feeling I managed to get it all out, but once I walked out of the room, the tears began to flow. A woman, a CASAC from another room walked up to me and said, "I'm not supposed to do this, but you really look like you need it", and she gave me a hug. Never forgot her.

A few weeks later I went online, and when I went on the OASAS website and saw my name and the word CASAC, I screamed and everyone from my office came running in. What a day. My license is retired now, but what a memory.

Have a good one.