The Exam Proper

The exam was rescheduled on March 15 Tuesday,
which means that Wednesday will be a rest day for the employers,
which would also mean that would be a nerve-wracking day for us applicants.


I had a nap rather than a good night's sleep
because I was too tense about the exam.
Rode the 4:30 am bus bound to Manila,
Walked from CCP Vito Cruz towards 
Sheraton and met a nice applicant who was
changing her shoes near the driveway towards the hotel.


It was like 5:30 am !
Crazy! I have never been to Manila that early.
Everybody was just stirring from their beds.


We both went to the toilet to refresh,
since we assumed we were the first ones there.
Lo and behold when we went outside,
almost 20 people magically appeared.


Seems that they have waited from the other entrance,
and as early as 3 am applicants were already there.
Around 6am the agency staff arrived and we registered.
Only the first 55 would be the first batch and so on.


They then opened the conference room and switched us around
to accommodate the various applicants.
I chatted with the other applicants,
one was from Agusan who was boarding in PNA and another
was from Bataan, wow!.


Kaswerte ko naman na Cavite lang ako!
Tapos nagrereklamo pa ako, e di ko na kailangan
mag-eroplano or mag-board.


The employers arrived at around 8am.
2 women and 1 man.
The women were both nurses, I cannot guess the nationality
of the Caucasian lady but later on somebody said she was Canadian.
The other lady was a Filipina and the man, an Arab I think,
was the HRD contact.
The man was very stern and serious looking though,
he barely smiled.


The ladies started distributing the exam materials.
Oh No! I thought! Of all the exams...
I barely know what a CTG is? 
Everything was so manual back in CCH, 
we used stethoscopes to take FHTs.


I really believed that I failed the exam,
I went reviewed my answers like 10x,
and counted my sure answers.
I would not reach 75%.


I was already thinking of a way
how to tell my mom that I did not pass
when I stood up and submitted my paper.


I was just sad.
I went home misty-eyed and slept the whole day.