My results conference

The waiting dragged on and on and some people played cards (actual cards) and most played with their smartphones, as they always do during down time (or during up time). I remembered an article I read that kids who go to their phones during breaks at school cannot retain what they learned as well. I wondered if it would help me or hurt me that I go without. (Did you know, last week the French government said no more cell phones in schools? Wow......hopefully it's a precedent.)

Because three of our teachers asked us to use our smartphones for class/learning purposes! One teacher said, "Google this and write it up." (!! The only google I had was my text book, shouldn't that be enough?) Another said, "Take a photo of this PowerPoint slide and send it to the What's App group so you can all learn from it at leisure." Wait, I need to take notes, on paper, NOW!  I'm not in the What's App group! And I don't learn from looking at photos of slides! Another teacher had students doing an online quiz app. Nice *sigh*

I tried not to stress but failed. How critical is it to have a smartphone to pass this class? Ironically there is a huge "Turn cell phones OFF" sign on the classroom door. *hrmph*

When I mentioned to the class "I'm not in the What's App group." They stared at me blankly. One guy, who I thought was nice but turns out to be a slacker, offered to upload all the materials onto a stick for me. I brought him a stick the next day and every day asked him for it and he gave it to me ......ON TEST DAY. So, no chance to look at it.

And when I got home, I plugged it in and guess what - it's EMPTY. No kidding. My husband said, in English, "Jerk!"

Would love to know what Jerk got as his final score....

***

Two by two, the teams emerged from the conference room. The conference room had our 6 testers, and our secretary, and the school's administrator, to hand out our pass/fail forms.

Some teams emerged triumphantly, so happy to have passed.

Some teams came out red-faced in tears, not comprehending their failure. There were a lot of tears.

Then the  pair who I admired most came out, quiet, staring at their forms. Linus went over to them, his friends, the best team of the entire class and asked, "What?" They got Cs. WHAAAAAAAAT!??

If those two got Cs, I'm screwed! They were a superbly oiled machine as they did CPR and every other task. I would regularly go to the one guy and ask his advice. He was an encyclopedia, and they never faltered. They were my role models. And they earned Cs.

If they got a C, there was no hope for me, to pass. I just sat down and gave up all hope.

Nerve-wracked, my adrenaline was spent.

Then it was our turn. 

I was still numb, as I sat down under the stares of all 8 of them. Linus sat down next to me.

They said, in English, "Ladies first." *ugh*

They cut to the chase.

"You got a combined average score on all your tests of B."

Though they didn't say B, they used the German term, so I didn't really grasp it.

I nodded my head thoughtfully and said, "That sounds nice, it sounds like I passed." (Really it took me a while.)

Then they ripped me up, telling me all the things I did wrong, that I had no idea about.

"Your 2-person CPR earned you a C, because you let the AED (Defi) pad touch the patient's neck (!!!??I did?). And your compression release was not great. (WTH, I've NEVER had issues with release! What was wrong with me?)"

Everything else was either good or great. Therefore, "B. Congratulations," they said.

I nodded and said, "I'd like to thank my teachers for their help with the German language, because it wasn't easy for me, and it was not easy for them either." They smiled at me.

Then it was Linus' turn. He ALSO got a B!

They said his baby CPR was perfect, and my eyes grew wide, cuz I knew he screwed up. Then teacher 2 for that test said, "I did notice, she helped him, but very quietly, so you may not have noticed." The other teacher was stunned, OK then. Linus started saying, "I messed it up, I forgot..." and the administrator said, "Stop talking Linus. You will change your grade."

!!!

We accepted their praise and our "pass" forms, and our little gifts, stethoscopes.  I returned mine to the administrator cuz I still have mine from the last time I was there.

We walked out into the questioning faces of the entire class, but they could see from our expressions we had passed.

The firefighter guy in his blazing outfit grabbed my form and whistled a long low tune, and the entire class turned to look at us. He said, "Well done." I guess at that moment I realized I'd done something GOOD.

Then I investigated. I went to all the people I thought were the best, the smartest, and they all had Cs, and even Ds! The guy with 6 years as a firefighter got a D! I had looked up to him so!

Just by how much had I passed?

NO ONE GOT A GRADE OF A.

No way. I'm saying that now but I only learned it as I was waiting outside the school for my husband, and two of the teachers walked by me. I said, "How many got an A?" "No one." Holy crap.

Your prayers were the reason, I felt doomed. God stepped in and let me feel calm in all the stress. RESOLUTE.

Thank you all.

Now I go on to a month of internship in a hospital, and another stint on the ambulance, and then a state-test (aren't they all state tests?) and then if I've translated correctly, I'll be a paramedic B.

Onward! And Saiph, my dream is to live in America again, that's why I'm doing this. Not to be tied to high-tech (though I love that too). I want options. Just ...I had no idea how hard this one would be!


Something I found relevant, and shared with the class, was the American Heart Association's decision to propagate "Hands-Only CPR". After realizing that even trained people are too insecure to perform CPR, they came up with a hands-only method. Just get people down there doing something, they thought. And compressions bring oxygen in a little bit.