The results are in... (some of them)

I have some reporting to do. We had a great Christmas and New Year's, and there are several blog posts required to satisfy all we did in 2010 because of my recent lack of blogging, but before all that there is something much more exciting to share.

Some of you may not know that on Friday, October 29 and Saturday, October 30 of 2010, I took the Civil Engineering, Professional Engineering (PE) Exam in Pomona, CA. The PE Exam consisted of 3 separate tests with a total of 180 computational engineering questions and 13 hours of testing that consumed 10 months of my life (and depleted most of my sanity) by the time all studying and testing was finally finished.

The 3 tests included in the PE Exam are:

Civil Engineering 8 hour Exam - all day Friday
California Seismic Exam (2.5 hours) - Saturday morning
California Surveying Exam (2.5 hours) - Saturday afternoon

These exams were very difficult for me. The PE Exam was like taking a final exam on my entire undergraduate education at BYU. I graduated from BYU 3.5 years ago, and some of those classes I have not taken in 7+ years! The CA seismic Exam material was completely new to me as I have never taken a class in that. Ever. To make matters tougher, the pass rates on each of the exams is only 35%. Which means the fail rate is 65%!!! 2/3 of all engineers that take any one of the exams will fail... (The exams are all pass/fail.)

I am beyond excited to tell you that I PASSED the Civil Engineering 8 hour Exam!!!! HOORAY!! I'm so excited!! I have waited 10 long weeks to find out the results of this multiple choice exam (go figure that it takes so long). Unfortunately half the waiting continues as I still haven't heard about the other two CA Exams.

Here's more exciting news. Now that we are living in Utah (which, like 90% of the U.S. states, only requires its engineers to pass the Civil 8 hour Exam) with a little paperwork, I am a licensed Professional Civil Engineer in the State of Utah!!!

Since I would like to also be licensed in the State of CA in the event that we move back there someday, I'm hoping I passed the other 2 CA exams as well. As I said, I'm still waiting on those results. Unfortunately, the odds are against me in passing all 3 the first time around. Only 5% of first-time test takers pass all three exams in one shot. Sigh. Although I worked hard and my fingers remain crossed, I am preparing myself to have to retake one of the exams (most likely the Seismic Exam since I'd never seen that material before the exam).

Of the 3 tests, I am most relieved that I (at least) passed the huge 8 hour Exam. 8 hour tests are a pain, to say the very least. 2.5 hour exams are much more manageable. I'll keep you posted about the final 2 exam results! Hopefully they won't prolong the agony of waiting too much longer!!

A special note: I have to thank so many people that helped me study for and pass this big 8-hour chunk of the PE Exam. My husband and parents for encouraging me (and pestering me at times); my Mother-in-law Brenda for flying down to watch Connor the last week before the exam so I could hit the books hard in the last few days; my co-workers for giving me much of my study material; my friend Jared, whom I studied with from January thru March and gave me limitless study and exam advice; and two of my El Segundo friends Tanya and LeeElle for watching Connor several hours a day during the last 3 weeks leading up to the exam. All of your support and sacrifice to help me is so greatly appreciated and I absolutely could not have done this alone. Heavenly Father has certainly blessed me with so many wonderful friends and family. I just hope I will have more good news to share with you soon to show your sacrifices were not in vain! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!