I knew enough!

That sound you hear emanating from my lungs is a deep sigh of relief! My two-hour final exam in Modern Latin America is over, and I knew enough to get a decent grade. Well, I won't know for sure until the grade is posted Monday, but I feel I did well with all the questions and only missed adding a date or two here and there. Of course I did all the extra credit questions at the end (gotta follow my own advice, ya know!), so they'll help make up for missed details.

I've never taken tests like Dr. Barickman issues. They're not the typical history exam where you spit out answers you memorized maybe only an hour or two before; facts that are just as quickly forgotten. He gives essay-style tests where you're expected to analyze your answer and write 4 or 5 complete paragraphs using examples from three or more countries. There are also some shorter identification-style ones where you pick from among 4 or 5 topics/events/terms and provide the date, country, and historical significance.

I've also never experienced the kind of advance preparation that he gives. His 8-page study guide, along with delineating the exact expectations, gives us the actual essay questions that are likely to be on the test! Of course he gives more questions than will be on the test, but it gives you a chance to get prepared and it really helps guide the limited study time you have.

Now that I'm home looking at those questions again, I'm relieved at the ones I didn't have to answer! I'd either prepared or had in mind how I would answer all of them, but it turns out the ones I felt least prepared for weren't on the test, or were there as a choice between two options. Whew!

Five major countries is a lot to cover and 200 years of history for each. But he taught not so much the facts and events, but how they impacted the citizens of each country in differing ways. He also covered how similar events such as military coups, elections, voting rights etc. were handled differently in each country, and how the economy reacted each time there was a major change.

I learned a lot and won't soon forget it. But thank goodness that test is over. I didn't know everything, but I knew enough!