First College Exam and Good News!!!

Hello again! Sorry that there was such a large time gap between my last post and now, but I have had a lot on my mind lately. Most of this was due to several tests in my classes and some other important events in my life. So, now I will catch you all up on what has happened.

On Friday, I had my very first college test in Biology. I had not studied excessively, since most of the material was review from High School. (thanks KCHS!!!) I finished the test of 45 questions in a little more than half an hour, which was good considering that many of the other testers stayed more than an hour. I felt pretty confident about my answers, only doubting a few that had stumped me a little. But, I wouldn't find out the actual grade until Tuesday, so until then, I would have to agonize about my answers. (AAAAGGHHH)

First thing Tuesday morning (8:30 to be exact), I had my Biology class again, so the time was almost here. But, my professor decided to drag this out, so I wouldn't find out my final grade until later that day. Instead of actually handing back the grades, we got into our groups and took the test as a group. She figured that through this process, we would be able to find out our grades without actually seeing it. As we went through the test, I was very pleased with how many questions I got correct! The test was 7 pages long, and on the first 3 pages, I didn't miss a single question! The ones I thought I did miss were things I had neglected to study, or frankly, didn't know. I couldn't remember all of my answers, since I only had the test paper and not the answers, so I didn't know how many I missed exactly. So, I figured I'd at least earn a "B" grade, and I would be happy with that.

Later that afternoon was when the all-important message came to my class' online webpage. I looked at the post and was very pleased to find out that I had earned a 90%!!! I was so excited, since a 90 on my first college test is a great thing! So, all that agony that I had during that weekend was in vain. Thanks to everyone that has kept me in their prayers over the past few weeks; I think this result is definitely a positive answer to those prayers. Just because I felt like it, I took a picture of the test paper so you could see what my first test looked like.

:Here's a little snapshot of my very first college test. Final grade: 90%!!!

In other news, I have some very good news about my car: it's fixed!!! My dad came up here on Sunday evening with the necessary parts (which he got at a discounted price by the way) and the intent to fix it. He arrived here around 7:45 PM and met me on campus just a little while later. We decided to check him into the hotel and then go and get some dinner, since neither of us had eaten since lunch. Now, I should explain that the hotel was on the north side of Cincinnati, and the school is closer to downtown, so there was about a 15 mile difference between the two. So, since my dad had been on the Interstate for the past 5 hours, we decided to take the local roads, which we assumed would take us to where we needed to go. The major highway by the school is called Montgomery Road, and the major highway next to the hotel was Mason-Montgomery Road, so as far as we knew they were the same road. Too bad I don't know the Cincinnati roads yet!

So, we started out going North on Montgomery Road, since it ran N/S and went into the general Northern Cincinnati area. But, as we got further along, we realized that we were going down the wrong road. We stopped at a service station along the way and asked about our directions. The man assured us that the two highways were indeed the same road and that the change of name would occur in about 6 or 7 miles. We were glad to hear that and went back on our way. Too bad he didn't know Cincinnati roads either! We went on down the road for at least 10 miles and didn't notice the change. We did briefly pass through a familiar area to me, but I didn't know which way to go from there. So, we stopped at another service station and this time they knew where they were going. We found out that in fact Montgomery Road and Mason-Montgomery Road are not the same. In fact, they run parallel to eachother! So, we took a few turns, and finally got to the signs that said Mason-Montgomery Road! We saw the neon sign for the motel and finally checked him in. After that, I helped him get settled and we rested for a few minutes. Then, we looked around to find something to eat (after all, it was getting late; we had been driving for almost 2 hours!), and found an Applebee's that was still open. We had a very nice meal, and then we headed back to school. He dropped me off and headed back to the hotel (via the Interstate now!) and I went to bed.

Monday was reckoning day; the car was finally going to be fixed! I had classes until 6:30 PM, so I wouldn't be able to witness the entire thing. However, I did have a gap in my schedule for about 2 hours, so I went to lunch and intended to go see what was going on. But, my dad beat me to that and called during lunch, saying that he wanted me to come help him for a minute. So, I walked up there and watched as he finished taking out some parts. Apparently the book he was following didn't follow how the parts were positioned, but he eventually figured it out. Now that day was very hot and humid, so my dad was a little tired and thirsty, so I went and got a drink from the dorm. So, now he had his drink, and got back to work. I had classes again until 6:30 PM, so he would call me when finished and let me know if everything worked out.

So, around 5:00 PM, I received a message saying that everything was fine, and that he had driven my newly fixed car around the block! I was ecstatic!! It was so exciting to finally have a working car again! So, we decided that I would go pick him up and I'd take him out to dinner; a good reward for a job well done. We found an O'Charleys nearby, and had another very nice dinner. Then I took him back to the hotel and got to try out my car on the Interstate. It worked just as good as ever! This was very exciting, and I looked forward to being able to get around Cincinnati. For those of you who are curious, I have added a couple of pictures of my car for you! Just take a look:

:Here's a frontal picture of my car; sorry about it being so blurry, but it was taken in bad light. For all of those who don't know already, it is a green '97 Saturn SL.

:Here's another picture of my car, only a side view. I'm so excited to finally be able to drive it again!

On Tuesday, since I only have my Biology class in the morning, my dad decided to meet me for lunch before he left for home. So, he came and picked me up and took me to a fast food place. Then he took me to the grocery store to pick up a few things, and took me back to school. He had already checked out and packed up, so he was just going to leave from there. So, after he dropped me off, we said goodbye and he went back home. Now it was back to my every day routine, and back to some hard work.

Well, since then there have been quite a few other happenings, but being as late as it is, I'll save that for tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the weekend and talk to you later!