what was your toughest

powerskipper

powerskipper

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exam, test, assessment you have done????

I asked some peeps today, both have just done there YMI [yachtmaster instructor tickets} today, one said there ym exam the other said the YMI.

So for you what would have been yours.


I will let Solitaire tell you his news.!!!
 
The MCA Orals exam for my Certificate(s) of Competency. You sit down in front of a chap (don't think thee any "chappess" examiners yet) who is basically deciding that if he were to pass you, would he be happy to be the Master of a vessel and let you be the OOW without his direct supervsion. Damn scary.
 
Definitely the oral exams for certification to operate commercial vessels, especially when being a mature-ish age student!
Or more specifically, the hours leading up to your turn in front of the examiner, never seen so many nervous men in one group..........
Certainly tests your confidence levels.
 
FlowerPower said:
My CISSP Security exam. The syllabus is an inch thick, but a mile wide.
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I know a chap who's gone through the CISSP and prior to that, the original CCIE oral and lab exam before its worth got diluted by specialisms. He's ended up as a CLAS consultant I believe... a certified headcase for putting himself through that lot too ;-)
 
Driving test, without a shred of doubt. I was nervous as hell - so nervous I failed the first four times despite the fact I was a reasonably competent driver. On my first test I couldn't even think straight - I was told to go straight on at the lights so I indicated left, gave the "please pass" hand signal and then turned right. I'd got a 35 sq mtr ticket (basically a day skipper), and was a full cat (i.e. professional) gliding instructor before I could drive on my own.

Had no real nerves during any other tests including flying checks or anything else. Do remember a few butterflies when I was sent solo in a glider but it's all a bit late by then so you just get on with it.

On one occasion I was running the airfield at Bruggen, sent a couple of people solo in the morning, signed off a chap to fly cross-country for the first time, then went off around midday to fail my driving test for the fourth time, came back, flew a short cross country with a pupil, sent another person solo in the evening and finished off the day with some aerobatics.
 
Nick_H said:
I did a term of OR at post grad, never understood a word of it
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Neither did I, at first. And to add insult to injury, none of the books were available in my mother language.
By the time I finally managed to pass the exam, my girlfriend was afraid I was going completely nuts.
...and coming to think of it, she had a point!
 
I took a diving course in 8 days while still working full time, 3 hrs class with a test everyday after work, then 2 hrs studying after that for the next days class, then big exam on day 4 then 1 day in the pool and 3 days in the sea with a dry suit cos it was only 5C, with only 1 1/2 metre visisbilty due to the algae, its the only time I've held hands with another man! the instructor insisted that me and my buddy hold onto each other while we did our dives as after 2 metres we were out of site of each other.
And all of this in norwegian! which isn't my mother tongue, and there were lots of words I'd never heard of like 'nøytralt oppdrift' eg neutral bouyancy.
Best bit was getting 100% in the exam and blowing the locals away as the nearest got 85%.!
But it was a 5 star school and the training was thorough and excellent .
 
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oldgit said:
exam, test, assessment you have done????


Meeting the wifes parents .
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Seconded. Exacerbated by four factors.

1. We were not married
2. I was not yet in possession of the nisi.
3. She was pregnant.
4. Her Dad is a _lot_ bigger than me

I made sure he had a beer in each hand before I told him he was going to be a granddad. We've been good friends ever since.

Otherwise ICC in my then boat. I was mostly scared of the number of other people also using my boat for the test:-) Most of them were used to legs, not single shaft..
 
CCIE (Certified Cisco Internetworking Expert), pure hell on Earth.

Although it's opened doors so I would do it again..


.....oh Christ, just the thought of it...I need to go and have a lie down!
 
MapisM said:
Really?
It doesn't take a proficiency in Norwegian to suspect that 'nøytral' could actually mean neutral... :rolleyes:
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You're obviously ignorant, of the fact that Norway has two official languages and a wide variety of dialects inbetween none of which are taught when you attend a norwegian language school, you get taught Bokmal which is one of the official dialects but no one in Stavanger speaks it.
Even Norwegians admit they have problems understanding people from the other end of the country, and thats why the news on TV is broadcast in the local regional language, Bokmal, Nynorsk, or Sami.
Same as learning Queens english as a foreigner then going up to Newcastle and doing a course.
 
Oh yes, no problem at all to admit my ignorance on Norwegian dialects!
Otoh, I just googled "english for nøytral" and found this online dictionary.
Now, I'm fully aware that understanding a language is far more complex than googling around, but it shows that my speculation, wrong as it might be, was at least plausible... :)
 
2nd year Thermodynamics exam whilst studying for my Mechanical Engineering degree.

A genuinely horrible experience, as I never really understood a word of it. Repeating the laws, word for word was easy, but working things out, knowing which law to apply to which situation and doing all the calculations to get any kind of answer, let alone the right one was a living nightmare. And, as I saw it at the time, quite irrelevant to anyone other than a power station designer, which I never had any intentions of being.

Thankfully I dropped Thermodynamics for my final year and although the final exams were still very tough, they didn't hold the sense of complete, overwhelming dread that WAS Thermodynamics. YEUCH!
 
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