I could have told myself so
brainbench is offering free skills assesmnts for the rest of the month. Among other, more plausible things like certifications in various information technologies, they offer a machine scored test of written English. The last time I sat for a standardized test in writing, it was about ten years ago for the MCAT, and I did quite well. This time around I bombed.
I had twenty minutes to write "a couple of paragraphs" (an instruction I took literally) about what I would like and dislike about the experience of relocating, living and working in a foreign country. Silly me, I spent seven minutes thinking about it and was barely able to spit my two paragraphs out in time. Worse, I went off-topic, writing abstractly rather than relating what I specifically would and would not like. I scored a one out of five, which was coincidentally in the 22nd percentile. Despite my initial disbelief that I'd done so poorly, I've come to agree with the computer that judged me: the essay I wrote sucked.
I learned something very important from this: I can cripple myself by overthinking.
attempt 1 -- score 1/5: To live and work in a foreign country for an extended length of time is one of the deepest changes that one can make in one's life. The experience itself is likely to change drastically over time, ranging from initial feelings of novelty and perhaps bewilderment, to a challenging period in which one attempts to navigate in a new social and political environment, leading finally -- depending on one's success -- to either a new home or the frustrating, isolated experience of living in an alien culture.
Many things can be gained from the experience, including a new way of viewing the world that one could perhaps never have learned from one's culture of birth. In the end, whether the outcome is positive or negative will depend strongly on whether the change in outlook is sufficient to justify the effort needed, but not so great as to make the adjustment impossible.
attempt 2 -- score 2.44/5:There are many things I could potentially like about moving to a foreign country, but there could also be many difficulties.Depending on the country in question, language might be the most important factor.Achieving fluency in a language, even if one has studied it for several years beforehand, can be a daunting experience, especially if there is no opportunity to fall back to English.Beyond language, there would be the challenges of learning new customs, and of having to make new friends and aquaintances.
Despite these potential difficulties, and perhaps even because of them, it can be extremely rewarding to be forced to adapt to a completely new environment.By necessity I would have to drop attitudes, habits and fears that might hold me back in my own country, and this would allow me to intensely experience the many novelties around me, and without a doubt propel me into a being a more energetic and aware person.
You had a total score of 2.44. Unfortunately, this is below the minimum passing score of 2.75 necessary to achieve a certification.
I'm off to re-take the test, and write it like I would a blog entry. This is my idea of having fun. Given only twenty minutes, I simply can't do better than that second try. I don't think it was any good either. I also clearly don't understand how they are scoring this thing. It's more than just my writing that stinks here. Okay smartass, it's more than just my writing and thinking that stink -- something's rotten about the assessment. Or is it?
Maybe I should just Shut the Fuck Up.
I had twenty minutes to write "a couple of paragraphs" (an instruction I took literally) about what I would like and dislike about the experience of relocating, living and working in a foreign country. Silly me, I spent seven minutes thinking about it and was barely able to spit my two paragraphs out in time. Worse, I went off-topic, writing abstractly rather than relating what I specifically would and would not like. I scored a one out of five, which was coincidentally in the 22nd percentile. Despite my initial disbelief that I'd done so poorly, I've come to agree with the computer that judged me: the essay I wrote sucked.
I learned something very important from this: I can cripple myself by overthinking.
attempt 1 -- score 1/5: To live and work in a foreign country for an extended length of time is one of the deepest changes that one can make in one's life. The experience itself is likely to change drastically over time, ranging from initial feelings of novelty and perhaps bewilderment, to a challenging period in which one attempts to navigate in a new social and political environment, leading finally -- depending on one's success -- to either a new home or the frustrating, isolated experience of living in an alien culture.
Many things can be gained from the experience, including a new way of viewing the world that one could perhaps never have learned from one's culture of birth. In the end, whether the outcome is positive or negative will depend strongly on whether the change in outlook is sufficient to justify the effort needed, but not so great as to make the adjustment impossible.
attempt 2 -- score 2.44/5:There are many things I could potentially like about moving to a foreign country, but there could also be many difficulties.Depending on the country in question, language might be the most important factor.Achieving fluency in a language, even if one has studied it for several years beforehand, can be a daunting experience, especially if there is no opportunity to fall back to English.Beyond language, there would be the challenges of learning new customs, and of having to make new friends and aquaintances.
Despite these potential difficulties, and perhaps even because of them, it can be extremely rewarding to be forced to adapt to a completely new environment.By necessity I would have to drop attitudes, habits and fears that might hold me back in my own country, and this would allow me to intensely experience the many novelties around me, and without a doubt propel me into a being a more energetic and aware person.
You had a total score of 2.44. Unfortunately, this is below the minimum passing score of 2.75 necessary to achieve a certification.
I'm off to re-take the test, and write it like I would a blog entry. This is my idea of having fun. Given only twenty minutes, I simply can't do better than that second try. I don't think it was any good either. I also clearly don't understand how they are scoring this thing. It's more than just my writing that stinks here. Okay smartass, it's more than just my writing and thinking that stink -- something's rotten about the assessment. Or is it?
Maybe I should just Shut the Fuck Up.