Exam Results

“He who devotes sixteen hours a day to hard study may become at sixty as wise as he thought himself at twenty.” Mary Wilson Little

On the 28th of September last year, I decided to apply to become a licensed paralegal through an exemption program that would only be in existence for another two days.  Why I do these things to myself, I'm not quite sure.  But if indeed I applied and was accepted, I would be able to write the Law Society of Upper Canada's Paralegal Licensing Examination on February 6, 2012.  There would be no classes to attend (normally a two-year, full-time, in-class experience).  So, I applied.  In and of itself, the application process was onerous.  It required that I run around the city getting various pieces signed by my professional association and notarized by a lawyer.  I had to provide a copy of my birth certificate (the only acceptable credential), have passport photos taken and swear out a number of statements.  And pay a hefty application fee, of course.  Having done all that, I waited for a decision on whether or not I would be admitted through the exempted program.  I was.

The next step was an on-line study program which was predicted to take 50 hours.  It took me a lot longer.  I don't process information quite as quickly through my fifty-six year old brain.  There were fifteen modules in the study program and hundreds of pages of material.  I was required to do at least one exercise and pass a test in each module before I was permitted to move on to the next.  It took a lot of hours but I finished in two weeks.  Once done, I obtained the study material I would need to write the exam on February 6.  It was a whole lot of very dry information.  I essentially had two months to teach myself all I would need to know to write the exam.  I was nervous and at many times unsure if I could do it.  I was nineteen the last time I wrote an exam.  I also decided this was a one shot endeavour for me.  If I did not pass, I would not put myself through the angst of another exam attempt.

On February 6, I attended the licensing exam at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, along with 342 other hopefuls.  They were primarily students who had just completed their two-year in-class program.  They were young.  Very young.  I noted two other mature faces in the sea of exam writers.  I did my best and began the wait for results.  We were advised we would be notified by snail mail within six weeks and that there were only two possible results - Pass or Fail.  So I was surprised today to find that my results were in fact, provided to me by email.  Surprised and relieved.  The result:  PASS.  I guess this old girl still has the stuff in her.