Sorry for the very late update. So i figured id write down the reason for it and turn it into a post.hehe. Im sure you mustve all heard of Oral exams. well, ive got one thats been biting me on my arse recently. And thats my excuse right there.
In the field im in we have to undergoe three individual courses each of which is followed by a final oral exam followed by work experience of 12months before we can do the next one. The funny part is all those High Distinctions and Distinctions you get from the 18 or so short courses you have to do in each of the study period doesnt mean squat. As long as you get a pass in everyone, youve got yourself an oral exam. Now this exam is the one on which EVERYTHING depends on. For me....my whole life depends on it.
Here's the exam. A qualified examiner from the main Maritime organisation here in Australia would be doing the exam. I have to go there all dressed up for this 'one on one' session. He starts asking me Questions one after the other.....for TWO FRICKIN HOURS. He can ask upto 2-3Qs per minute meaning over 300 Qs. He gets to ask ANY question he wants as long as its in this field....even if its something we havent been taught as long as he feels like i should know the answer. He can show me an instrument asking me to name the parts, ask me to draw a diagram of a certain object/instrument labelling the part that you may find anywhere on a ship, or even ask me to do a mathematical question which might take 5-10mins to do asking me to do it WITHOUT a calculator.
EVERYTHING depends on who the examiner is and his mood at that time. Some examiners have even gone for 2hr 45mins. And here's the interesting bit. There is no score...there are no marks allocated...you dont have to get a certain percentage of the Questions correct. From those 300 Qs all you have to mess up is ONE SINGLE QUESTION for him to say that its a fail. But ofcourse, depending on his mood he might allow 3-4 mess ups and might settle for 1hr 45mins. Maybe i should go to the exam with a 6-pack or maybe a fruit basket. And also complimenting him every now and then throughout the 2hrs making him feel like he's the king or something. *shrug*
Now for the consequences if you fail. You can do a resit after 2 weeks provided you can make the appointment along with $370 for the next exam. Oh yes. You can do only two re-sits. If you fail the next one, the final re-sit can be done after a month from that fail date and if you fail the last re-sit, you can do the exam again after you've had SIX MONTHS WORK EXPERIENCE ON A SHIP(not to mention all the expenses to renew your visa and all the paperwork and payments along the way). And if you have to wait even for a month and two weeks the living costs go upto approximately $1500-$2000.
So in my opinion the whole thing doesnt make much sense. I mean i can totally understand if even lets say there were like a 1000 Qs from which each examiner gets to pick any 200-300 Qs. Instead of them getting to ask ANY Question they want. This classmate of mine was failed after 2hrs of Qs when he was asked to do this mathematical sum without a calculator. And this was a calculation to find the approximate position of his ship in an emergency. Nowadays we've got all this technology and all these different instruments which help us do it. Anyways, his working was correct but he made a small mistake with the calculation part of a particular step. He was failed right there saying that "there MIGHT arise a scenario where all the instruments and all those other aids available to you fails. And you might not even have a calculator with you." Helloooooo. if by some weird coincidence or freak of nature it happens, wont the person atleast do the sum two or three times to make sure his working was correct or atleast have someone else do it as well? And he was FAILED after 2hrs for that? For the love of god. tsk tsk tsk. No wonder people seem like they are gonna fly away when you meet them after theyve passed.
P.S- I never seem to be able to write anything short now am i?
