While I think I agreed to some sort of confidentiality agreement that keeps me from talking about the specific questions for the test I took, I think it is a safe matter to discuss in general, so here goes. For those who are not aware, I am someone who is deeply fond of taking standardized tests. For whatever reason, I happen to have a particular talent that makes me fairly skilled at determining what it is that a standardized test is looking for and gathering precisely that information without being too distracted by whatever else is going on. Though this may not be the most important skill or talent in the world, it is one that has greatly benefited my own life and education at various moments.

To give but one example, which I have blogged about before [1], I was not feeling particularly confident about education after my rather difficult experience as an undergraduate student in Los Angeles, but my success on the GRE around my twenty-fourth birthday allowed me to build enough confidence to get two master’s degrees. Most people, it seems, find such tests to be a great test of their intellect and confidence and find themselves to be nervous and fretful about such matters. As for me, as long as I am familiar with the format and general content of the tests, I am generally not worried about the scores I will get on them, as I’ve done pretty well at standardized tests since childhood and despite the ups and downs of my life it is one skill that I have generally possessed, even if the opportunities to use it have been somewhat limited.

It just so happens that when I had my intake interview with the local Workforce Oregon office that one of the opportunities that they offered was a particular test that is run by the same company that does the ACT (the main alternative to the SAT, and a test I took, on a lark, as a high school junior myself). That particular test is called the NCRC (or National Career Readiness Certification), on the premise that some employers like having the capabilities of their potential employees to read, solve story problems in math, and locate information in charts and graphs is potentially of use to them in weeding out candidates. Being the sort of person who tends to enjoy certification and standardized tests, I signed up for the first examination I could, and ended up getting a platinum score (the highest level) on all three exams (a 7 on reading, a 7 on math, and a 6 on locating information).

This is not as easy a matter as it might sound [2]. According to the statistics compiled by the State of Oregon, and I have no reason to doubt them, only 309 out of 24,369 certifications have been at the platinum level, about 1.27% of those who did well enough to get a certificate in the first place. Apparently, despite being rather casual about the matter, my instructors and fellow test-takers (one of whom I chatted with after the test while he waited for an interview) seemed to be aware that I was a major contender for the thirteenth platinum certification ever awarded at that office in Oregon. I suppose I give myself away too easily, perhaps by being too relaxed when others are stressed out, or just radiating general nerdiness or something of that kind.

However, it is sad that all tests are not that easy. Tests come in the most bizarre of ways. Sometimes they occur in areas where we know we are not particularly skilled and are doing our best to avoid or overcome only we get overwhelmed anyway. I personally find these sorts of tests to be the most frustrating, because they happen in areas I am really anxious about and concerned about, making great effort in, and paying a lot of attention to, and they still end up being overwhelming anyway. I wonder if that is how most people feel when it comes to standardized tests: studying and preparing as hard as one can, worrying and fretting about them, working one’s hardest and doing one’s best, and then still finding oneself overwhelmed. I can certainly sympathize, even if the tests I struggle the most mightily in are not standardized tests but tests involving reading people.

I find this particular aspect of life to be particularly ironic, in a sad way. While I am generally very skilled at figuring out how to answer standardized test questions and figure out what information is the most important when it comes to intellectual matters, I do not find it as pleasing or satisfying in trying to read situations and other people (which is one reason why I insist in open and honest communication, because someone will guess wrong–probably all people involved). As frustrating as life can be in that regard, I suppose it’s just one of those ironies of life that I have to appreciate and deal with, as long as I live, since what I am is what I am, after all, and probably will not change very drastically at this point.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/the-miseducation-of-nathan-albright/

[2] http://www.oregonworkready.com/certification.php