The other day I announced that I was starting down the path towards a 2-year college degree at the age of 37. I just had never needed one before and you could say I still don't. However, I am close to a lean FIRE (lean FIRE means to retire early without much more income than expenses) and believe that having a degree - even a two-year one - is something like an insurance should I ever need to find a job for income.
The most efficient way for me to complete the degree was to take knowledge tests in lieu of classes. I decided that my first test should be Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. I read that it is not too difficult and figured that it would be a good place to start to ease me into it and let me see what the testing process was like. The Community College that runs the tests gave me a sheet that stated it a 60% pass rate from those who took the test last year. That was one of the higher ones.
I can tell you that I was getting pretty nervous while standing outside the facility waiting for them to open. Once the test got started I fell into my groove. The real test had a better interface than the one on my practice test! As an example, the practice test said stuff like "on line 42..." and while sometimes the writing had line markers, I still had to count to regain the line I needed. But the real test highlighted the appropriate lines for me! So much easier that way, let me tell you.
Anyways, after about an hour or so I finished and ended up with a 63 on a scale of 20-80. A score of 50 would mean a 'C.' So I was in the 'B' grade range.
The first step has been taken.
