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| Preparing for the GRE in a Greek cafe |
Surrounded by boutiques with their signs written in Chinese
figures, I thought to myself, “this is an interesting place to host the
GRE.” It was obvious that this was
Thessaloniki’s version of a China town, with cheaply-made goods being sold at
low prices along a sketchy street not too far from the port. I continued along my way, trusting the
Google Map’s line on my outdated iPod touch, realizing that I will be thirty
minutes early for the test, just as the email suggested.
As soon as I approached the point indicated by the digital
pin on my iPod, my suspicions that something was not right was augmented. There was no building where a standardized
test would likely be proctored, only run-down apartments and dirty lots. I circled the block a few times as the panic
sunk in. Bemused, I knocked on the door
of a store, which was locked for probably founded reasons, and asked a guy
where the place I was looking for was located.
His response was exactly what I did not want to hear, “Oh, you are very
far.”
Taking the GRE was the first step in figuring out my plans
for when I return from the Peace Corps.
I mentioned many times through this blog that a role in foreign service
or international development is something that interests me very much, and
applying to graduate school seemed like the most appropriate step, since a
short survey that I conducted browsing through LinkedIn resulted in the
discovery that all of those listed as working at the State Department had a
graduate degree of some sort. So, since
most of the programs to which I will be applying require a GRE score, I
registered. But not without delay. It has been 10 years since I last took a
standardized test, so obviously the stress of electing into such a rigorous
process was off-setting. Additionally,
the electronic GRE is not offered in Macedonia, but rather in Thessaloniki,
Prishtina, or Sofia. Sofia is the
farthest and most expensive of the options, while Thessaloniki was a kombi ride
away from me. However, the political
crisis in Greece at the beginning of August further prompted me to delay my
registration, but finally setting a date for September 10 gave me a deadline to
which I must strive.
Following weeks of re-learning basic geometry, how to
compute “basic” combination and permutation problems, and memorizing frivolous
vocabulary words (expect to see a few scattered about in upcoming posts), I was
ready as I could be and on my way to Thessaloniki. After arriving at the hostel, I indulged in
an American-style cheeseburger and buckled down to study. However, after two hours of answering
questions on the GRE simulation, I recognized that the practice was not helping
and that I was only stressing myself out.
Personally, I perform best on standardized tests when I am relaxed and
have stamina, so I decided to quit studying, walk around the upper parts of
town, and hang out with the other guests at the hostel.
Well, my stress levels definitely spiked again only minutes
prior to the beginning of the test. Lost
and supposedly “far away” from where I was supposed to take the test, I clearly
was in grave danger of missing the GRE.
Staring at the map, I discovered where the actual location for the test
center was, so I raced down the main road in the right direction. Basically, I needed to backtrack the whole
lateral distance to which I traveled to the “supposed” location, so walking,
even at my fastest pace, would make me late by about 10 minutes. Finally, I wasn't even sure where the actual
building was, just the number and the street name, so finding the actual
building would be the other half of the battle.
Therefore, I needed to make a quick decision- find a taxi
and take it, or continue walking. I kept
my eyes open for a free taxi along the main street, and as soon as I found one,
I raced toward it and asked if it were free and if it could take me to my
destination. I only had 10 Euros in my
pocket, so I asked him how much it would cost as well, and he assured me that
the trip would be less than 5 Euros .
Score. I sat in the front seat,
dripping in sweat, but slightly refreshed by the blast of the air
conditioning. The taxi driver did not
speak any English, so when he confirmed the address with me in Greek by holding
up four fingers, I responded with a rapid succession of Yes’es, first in
Macedonian, then in Albanian, only to quickly concede that I did not know how
to say “Yes” in Greek, so instead just lowered my head silently in defeat.
It soon became clear that taking a taxi was not the simplest
of solutions. Even though it was only 2
in the afternoon, the streets were clogged with traffic. We crawled along the main street, as I looked
at my watch to see time etch away. 15
minutes left until I am late. 10. 8. The
radio was playing traditional Greek guitar music, rapid and staccato, which
matched my hope of racing through streets in this taxi, but belied the reality
of sitting in Greek traffic (something like the first minute of this). We slithered through side streets, only to
get caught in new traffic. At one point,
the car in front of us decided to turn left at an intersection. Cut off behind it, my driver shouted
obscenities (I can only assume), and I felt comforted that he was able to yell
what I was feeling inside.
At one point, I sat in the seat of the car realizing, “This
is it. I am late. I wasted money and time to come all the way
to Greece to take a test, and I missed it”.
Suddenly, the driver pointed to our left and said, “Venizelou 4,
there!”. I repeated and pointed numerous
times before I said, “Ok! Pay now”. I took out my money, tipped him for understanding
my rush and emotional anguish, and raced through the parking lot, up three
flights of stairs to the testing center.
I was two minutes early, and luckily they admitted me to the test.
Sweating and hands shaking, I signed their documents and was
assigned to a computer in the room. I
was about to start the GRE, and my stress levels were almost at the point of
shock. I took a deep breath and began
the test. Overall, the rest of the test
went smoothly, but the adventure was not over yet. Early on through the test, I heard squeaking
in the wall in front of me, only to realize that there must be a family of mice
living in whatever duct or space was behind it.
At the latter part of the test, the proctor decided to turn the air
conditioning on blast, and I felt like my fingers were going numb from cold
toward the end of the test.
But all that starts in mayhem ends well, I guess. Upon completing the test, my scores were
reported, and I was surprised to see the scores on both sections of the
test. In the end, I achieved scores
higher than the 50% range of the programs to which I was applying to, which are
satisfactory for me. Rewarding myself
for completing the test, obtaining the scores I wanted, and dealing with such a
chaotic day, I purchased a bottle of IPA, ate at a nice Greek tavern, and
relaxed with one of the guests before putting a kibosh on the day.
Finishing the GRE and obtaining the scores I wanted relieves
me of a lot of stress at an important time.
There is still a lot I need to accomplish in order to begin the
recruitment for AIESEC Tetovo and to finalize parts of the training for this
new group. Plus, I have put aside my
studies of Albanian in order to better memorize superfluous English vocabulary
words. As my schedule fills for the
coming weeks, I can already feel bit of stress of organizing and managing all
of my duties. But if I learned one thing
from this chaotic experience in Thessaloniki, if I keep my cool, I just may be
able to come out on top. Opa!
