Now, it's not typical for Kerry to text me so right off the bat I knew something was up. I immediately checked my email app on my iPhone... nothing from Clair at the Commission. I did receive something from Kelly (who I took the exam with last year, and this year). The email read...
"omg omg omg omg omg did you get an email???????????????????"
OK, now I definitely know something is up, I also know at this point that Kelly definitely passed (way to go Kel!!! ). I go back to my inbox - still, nothing from Clair at the Commission office in Dublin...
I text Kerry back - "I have nothing, they're out? My heart is POUNDING"
Quite literally I felt my heart rate rise from normal, to as if I had just sprinted a 400 meter!
I receive a text from Kerry "They are out. Fingers crossed. xo"
What the heck - where is my EMAIL!?!!?!
I am now shaking, I can barely type a text to Mary and Wendy reading "exam results are out, I haven't received anything yet, I'm freaking"
I decided at that moment, since I was at work... That I should probably take a lap around the office and try to calm the heck down. So, I walked around the aisle over to my friend Anne Marie's desk... I say
"the exam results are out, I didn't receive an email yet and I....can't.... breathe.... "
She tried to calm me down by smiling in her very Gwyneth Paltrow way and just said "It's ok, you passed"
How could she be so sure when I wasn't??? I mean, I definitely felt very confident but still YOU NEVER KNOW!
So when I went back over to my desk it was there. The email from Clair at the Commission with the subject line "ADCRG/TCRG/TMRF Exams LA 2012"
I closed my eyes, touched the email to open it on my iPhone and then looked down at it and saw:
Examination Results ADCRG/TCRG/TMRF LA
This email is to inform you that you have been successful at the above exams.
Your full result will follow by hard copy in the mail.
An Udaras Scrudaithe
Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha
So, they don't highlight the word for you in red - I just did that because literally it's the only word I truly saw and read in the email. I then proceeded to scream (yes, at work. yes, at my desk) "BAHHH I passed my test!!!"
The office all cheered and clapped for me, it was a very sweet moment. Obviously I took the next... hour or so to text/email all the important people in my life and update the Facebook statuses.
Wow - what a feeling.
THEN, I get home and see that this blogger I follow had put up such a sweet post about me. She's studying for her TCRG and I like to read her blog and keep up with her study habits, how her dancing and dances are coming. Visit her blog The Long Road to the TCRG Exam and read about her journey. It truly is a long road to the TCRG - and it's not an easy one!! Kudos to you to nailing down an exam date and giving yourself a deadline!!!
All in all, it's been a pretty amazing day! :)
Anything incredible happen to you lately?
I just found your blog from the Long Road to the TCRG Exam, which I've followed for ages - and I have to say, I cried when I read your post, when you described how you felt when you were waiting for results and when you found out. I don't know you, but I'm really happy for you.
ReplyDeleteI have a dear friend who's been TAing at my dance school since before I began dancing. I recently found out she's planning on taking the TCRG exam. It breaks my heart that she won't compete again after this year's Oireachtas, since she's one of our best dancers, but I'm so grateful to her for making the sacrifice to become a teacher. I don't know if, when the time comes that I'm eligible and a good enough dancer to take the exam, if I'll have the selflessness to stop competing and start studying, and I have the utmost respect for anyone who can take that plunge into the deep end. I hope she's as successful on her exam as you were on yours!
Clare
Thank you Clare! It was so sweet of you to message me :)
ReplyDeleteI never thought I would want to stop competing - it's literally the greatest feeling in the world and I worked SO hard to be the dancer I am today. However, when you teach these kids and you see their faces when you walk them over to that awards wall at a feis - it's an incredible feeling to know that you helped get them there! I hope you do retire your competition shoes and experience the teaching side. It's truly a joy!!
Nina
Thanks for giving me something to think about. :) I know I want to become a teacher someday because there's going to be a point when I can't compete anymore, but I guess it's really a question of when I'm going to take that plunge. My TC took the exam in her mid-thirties, while my friend will take it in her mid-to-late twenties - I just don't know if I can do that, at least at the age my friend will be taking it. And there's also the question of whether or not I'm capable of being a teacher - my parents and schoolteachers think I'd be a terrible one, and have told me so on many occasions. :'(
ReplyDeleteIn your opinion, what are the most important qualities for a teacher to have?
Clare
Well, fortunately for you I was always told I wouldn't be a good teacher either. That's mainly because I lack patience which is the number one quality you need to have - here's the thing though... you really just need to get creative with patience. For example, I teach 5 year olds on Thursday nights and some times they are just off the wall - but, instead of getting frustrated and impatient with them I just turn on a Katy Perry song and let them dance it out for a few minutes... Or, sometimes it's as simple as saying "why don't you sit down for a minute". It's definitely easier to lose my temper with the older kids, but I just try to explain to them why I'm frustrated and that I care about how they look and perform, etc and that's why I get so upset.
DeleteAbove patience, you have to have charm. Think about it - would you work hard for a teacher you don't care for? Not so much, but if you win over their little hearts they'll leap across the floor all night if you asked them to.
Heart - it's very important to exude utterly that you have heart and passion about the message you're trying to get across to the students. If they trust you, they'll pick up on it and learn to have it too.
Nina
Thank you so much for your reply, that really made me feel a lot better about my chances of becoming a good teacher. :)
ReplyDeleteI wish you all the best with your new certification. Maybe I'll see you at Worlds one day with your qualifying students!
Clare