I climbed up the 12 steep stairs in my little townhouse, and waved goodnight to my friends at 9:30 pm on Friday, February 21.
I closed my bedroom door and sat down at my brown desk. I pulled out my gallon Ziploc bag from my plastic container under my bed and I put in my four number two sharpened yellow pencils, my 250ml water bottle, my gold Michael Kors watch, my red pencil sharpener, my eraser, my LSAT admissions ticket, my snack bar and a pack of tissues.
I zipped the bag and put it on my cleared desk.
I went to my closet, grabbed my fuzzy purple robe and took a quick shower.
I gave myself a quick pep talk and reminded myself to be confident.
I did my skin care, and climbed into bed with my book, The English Patient before turning off the light promptly at 10:30 pm.
(I am trying to laugh about all of this now)
J.Crew cheetah sweater | flare jeans from France (similar) | H&M black velour jacket (similar) | Tory Burch black Reva ballet flats | earrings from a boutique
1:56am, I jolted out of bed.
My sweet dream of spring break and basking in the sun in Mexico was halted by the ear piecing screech of the fire alarm. I threw on my robe, my purple slippers, plugged my ears and ran down the stairs. I grabbed my keys and laughed, walking out of the door, down the four flights of stairs with my suite mates and the rest of the sleeping dorm.
We climbed into Bella’s heated car and waited for the red firetruck with the Wake Forest flag on the back to pull in.
15 minutes later, we took the elevator back up to the 4th floor and I climbed into bed.
At 7 am my alarm went off. I put on my purple leggings, and workout clothes that I set out the night before. I put my good luck charm- my broken rosary in my pocket.
I danced to some music as I put my hair up in a pony tail as I answered texts wishing me good luck.
At 7:10 am, Zoe came in to wish me luck.
I brushed my teeth, had a bowl of oatmeal, and by 7:45 am, I was out of the door walking to my Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) at Wake Forest Law.
Some tears were forming in my eyes from my nerves, but also from the wind and the 21-degree temperature.
I was nervous, but confident. I had been preparing for the LSAT for over eight months, and I was so excited to be done.
I waited in line behind five other people, all anxious to sign into the testing room and start our test.
At 8:15, we were waiting. At 8:30, we were still waiting.
We couldn’t sign in until 8:45 am because the head computer was having difficulties.
Over the summer, the LSAT became a digital test. The Law School Admissions Council moved from a paper and pencil test to a Windows tablet. It would be faster, more efficient and modernized.
By 8:55 am we finally had our tablets. We were all sitting in our assigned seats in a big auditorium at Wake Forest Law.
A lot of rules were broken at this testing center.
Test takers around me had mechanical pencils, pens, and water bottles larger than the size of their Ziploc bags. There was even a test taker wearing a hood.
I was horrified.
According to the LSAT admissions ticket and packet we were supposed to read: “You must bring to the LSAT test center the following: (1) your unsigned LSAT Admission Ticket that includes the photo that you uploaded through your LSAC.org account (you will provide your signature at the check-in table); (2) a physical, valid government-issued ID that is current (or has expired within 90 days of your test date) and contains a recent and recognizable photo; (3) three or four sharpened No. 2 or HB pencils with good erasers.”
“You may not bring into the test center or use any of the following: books, dictionaries, papers of any kind, rulers, mechanical pencils, mechanical erasers or erasers with sleeves, ink pens or felt-tip markers, briefcases, handbags, backpacks of any kind, or earplugs. Hats/hoods (except religious apparel) may not be worn on the head. Sunglasses may not be worn. If you bring prohibited nonelectronic items into the test center, you will be subject to the confiscation of such items by the room supervisor. An LSAT Violation of test center regulations incident will be recorded; (paper-and-pencil version only) a written LSAT Violation Notice may also be issued by test center staff and submitted to LSAC.”
I had followed the rules, but none of the proctors enforced them.
At 9 am we finally started. The first 35-minute section was really hard.
A girl two rows in front of me had technical problems and her tablet had failed.
I was speeding through the questions and answering them to the best of my ability and to all the knowledge I had acquired over eight months.
At the end of the 35-minute section, our screens closed the section and took us back to the main page.
I looked up from my tablet and our proctors asked the large auditorium of 40 people, if we had finished the section. We unanimously answered yes.
The head proctor kind of laughed, and said, well thanks for letting us know, we had no idea because the head computer crashed.
She told us we couldn’t finish the test at the moment because the head computer had failed.
She told us to take a break, get up and walk around.
We did just that. We talked amongst each other and went to the bathroom.
The second the proctor spoke to us the test became invalid. The minute we went to the bathroom on a break that was not a regulated break, the test was invalid.
15 minutes later, we returned to our testing room and were told that the test was canceled due to technical failures.
I burst into tears.
This test is what I need to get into law school. The law schools I am applying to have end of March deadlines. I cannot afford to take a later test.
Dumbfounded and overwhelmed, I ran home, threw open the door to my apartment and burst into tears in Bella’s arms.
I immediately called my parents and my boyfriend, my LSAT tutor and friends.
They wrapped me in their arms and tried to console me as I told them I won’t be able to apply to law school now...
I am devastated. I am angry. I am frustrated. And I feel drained.
This is such nonsense and I did nothing wrong.
How dare they not have a paper test or a backup plan.
How dare they effect when I can go to law school.
Saturday afternoon, I received an email from the Law School Admissions Council apologizing for the technical difficulties, but with no answers.
“Dear LSAT Registrant:
On behalf of everyone at LSAC, I want to apologize for the unexpected problem we had at your test center today that prevented you from completing the LSAT. We recognize the inconvenience and stress this can cause and are working hard behind the scenes to provide you with options.
We will be in contact with you this Monday, February 24, to review those options. There is no action needed from you at this time."
Monday, February 24, I NEVER received an email.
To look on the bright side…
Clearly, I wasn’t meant to take the LSAT on Saturday.
I have the absolute best friends in the entire world.
My family is the best.
I feel so loved and supported by everyone in my life! I cannot even express in words how loved I feel. Before the test and after the test, with all this nonsense.
I am so lucky that I have all of you too!
I hope you enjoyed reading my story about a very traumatizing day…
I am so lucky that I have all of you too!
I hope you enjoyed reading my story about a very traumatizing day…
I am laughing about all of this nonsense now, because that is how I am keeping myself from crying.
I hope you all will keep your fingers and toes crossed that LSAC will make a make-up test for us to take within the next week, so I can fulfill my dream of going to law school.
More news to follow…
