Page 229 - Keys To Community College Success

Test Taking

SHOWING WHAT YOU KNOW

What Would You Risk? Jay Dobyns

THINK ABOUT THIS SITUATION AS YOU READ, AND CONSIDER WHAT ACTION YOU WOULD TAKE.
THIS CHAPTER HELPS YOU USE PREPARATION, PERSISTENCE, AND STRATEGY TO CONQUER TEST
ANXIETY, SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW, AND LEARN FROM TEST MISTAKES.

Raised in a solid middle-class home, Jay Dobyns had every- Next test: Map out a new career.
thing a boy could want—a bike, a baseball glove, and a safe Eager for the reward of serving others
place to play. His parents were great role models, blue-collar in an exciting atmosphere, Jay risked
workers who inspired Jay to overachieve. By high school, Jay embarking on a career in federal law
was taking risks calculated to bring a specific reward—being enforcement, as an undercover officer for
a wide receiver in the National Football League. the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire-
Never the biggest or strongest or fastest, Jay was the arms. “As an undercover agent, every day
hardest worker on the playing field, with a “gracious is a test,” Jay says. “They aren’t written tests or multiple
confidence” that fueled his sports aspirations. At the choice. Your instructor is the criminal. You’re trying to pass
University of Arizona, Jay earned Pac-10 all-conference the test in the eye of the criminal.”
honors. Academically, Jay was uninspired but got the job Just four days into his ATF career, Jay was taken hos-
done, earning a degree in public administration. “All I tage by a drug addict and was shot point blank in the
cared about was catching footballs and school was simply back, the bullet piercing Jay’s lung and exiting his chest.
a means for me to get to do that,” Jay says. The big Once an athlete destined for NFL greatness, Jay was lying
test for him was whether he could catch a football in the dirt, bleeding to death. Jay’s risk had presented him
with 70,000 people watching. As with many student with the ultimate test—and no guarantee if a reward
athletes, his dream was derailed by the harsh reality of would follow.
professional sports. To be continued . . .

JAY’S LIFE TESTS HAVE
REQUIRED FOCUS, PAS-
SION, AND GRACE UNDER
PRESSURE. YOUR TESTS
MIGHT BE OF A VASTLY
DIFFERENT NATURE, BUT
YOU WILL NEED SKILL
AND FORTITUDE TO PASS Working through this chapter will help you to:
THEM. YOU’LL LEARN • Create a test preparation plan P. 194
MORE ABOUT JAY, AND • Study effectively for tests P. 195
THE REWARD RESULTING • Manage test anxiety P. 198
FROM HIS ACTIONS,
WITHIN THE CHAPTER. • Use test-day success strategies P. 202
• Identify and address different types of objective questions P. 206
• Write answers to subjective (essay) test questions P. 209