At Last...

So yesterday, less than an hour after posting about waiting for my "ATT" (Authorization to Test) letter, that gives me the final go-ahead to take the NCLEX, the test that will allow me to become a nurse, the letter arrived via email. For the last month and a half, since graduating, I've felt like the main character, Joseph, in Saul Bellow's book "Dangling Man". I'm tired of being broke, tired of working as a waiter and ready to start working as a nurse. I felt like a thousand pounds was lifted off my chest.

I've scheduled the test for July 13 at 2 pm, at a testing center in downtown Chicago. For a small fee, I will be able to get the "unofficial" results from the testing company after two working days; I should, therefore, know by the end of that week. Two school friends who took-- and passed-- the test recently described the test as "easy," confirming what we'd heard about the nursing program we were in; that it's so rigorous that the test seems easy by comparison. I'm feeling confident that I'll do fine. I'm just glad I've got the go-ahead-- at last...