February 17, 2007 : The 101st National Medical Licensing Exam, Day One
© 安岡喜晴 (JoyShine)
Can't sleep..... Can't sleep..... Can't sleep.....
What's up with this? This "strangely unable to sleep" mode. Something's off... this can't be right.
Back when I was studying public health, my back felt sluggish and my brain was counting sheep. I was supposed to be desperate for sleep at that time.
But why? Why can't I fall asleep??
I'm in trouble if I don't sleep. If I don't sleep, I would mess up left and right on the exam, and that's really bad.
Come on, pretty please just let me sleep~. This feeling, this feeling... this is exactly like the night before my Center Exam years ago...
Back then as well, I was totally unable to sleep the night before the first day... Especially my second year taking the Center Exam. That time I felt so sick during the first English section that I almost threw up...
That's why I still remember it even now. That English test was the first subject of the 1998 Center Exam. Because just taking the exam, I felt sick. Even now, I'll never ever forget it, not for the rest of my life.
I'm the type who... is usually pretty laid-back, but when it really counts, I get more nervous than most people.
Maybe it's
because I'm usually so laid-back that I end up getting nervous~♪??
Yeah... if I'd been steadily doing everything right all along, maybe I wouldn't get so nervous~. Maybe I get nervous because I only start getting all worked up at the last minute.
Oh well... whatever, it doesn't matter either way. Anyway... before long, it'll be the medical licensing exam. It only comes around once a year... Mess it up, and the next shot is a whole year away... Kinda scary...
In the end..... I couldn't sleep at all and headed straight to the exam site. The venue was Osaka Sangyo University.
The exam schedule is as follows:
■ Day 1 (February 17)
Section A: Clinical (9:30–12:00, 60 questions)
Section B: General (13:30–15:30, 120 questions)
Section C: Mandatory General (16:10–17:00, 50 questions)
■ Day 2 (February 18)
Section D: Mandatory Clinical (9:35–12:00, 50 questions)
Section E: Long passage (13:20–15:00, 30 questions)
Section F: General (15:40–17:00, 80 questions)
■ Day 3 (February 19)
Section G: Clinical (9:30–12:00, 60 questions)
Section H: Clinical (13:25–15:30, 50 questions)
So I finished day one of the medical licensing exam, and... what even was that Section B, the general questions, supposed to be...?
Up until now, the medical licensing exam was the kind where you pick one correct answer out of five, but this year it was all "pick two out of five" questions.
Plus, no points unless you get both answers totally right..... Is everyone nationwide really handling this okay?? (←casually getting anxious all by myself)
After getting back to the hotel, I went to the department store right by the hotel to buy a watch since I'd forgotten mine... but everything was oddly high-end, so I ended up not buying one.
Then, I went to a convenience store, got back to my room, and went straight to bed. After all, I hadn't slept a wink last night.
I thought for sure I'd easily fall asleep tonight and got into bed, but that feeling didn't last long... something's wrong... something's wrong...
this can't be happening..... I can't sleep..... this can't be happening.....
From my experience in life so far, if I've been up for over 30 hours, I'd be completely exhausted and easily able to fall asleep.
And besides, I'm not the type who doesn't need much sleep. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. On a normal day, I can easily sleep 12 hours.
Someone like me, after staying awake for more than 30 hours, should've fallen asleep soon after getting into bed.
But..... I can't sleep. I can't sleep at all..... The anxiety about not being able to sleep... turns into pressure to fall asleep.....
I can't fall asleep at all..... In my head, Whitney Houston's "I Learned From The Best" is going round and round and round..... on auto-replay.....
But still, there was plenty of time until the exam. I thought if I just stayed in bed, sleep would come at some point, and I believed that.....
⇒ February 18, 2007 Diary ~ "The 101st National Medical Licensing Exam, Day Two" : to be continued.