I'm certified!

So I took the State test to get certified as a Nurse Aide on Thursday. It was incredibly stressful. I wasn't too worried about the written portion; I'm pretty good at that stuff. But I was really worried about the practical portion where you're actually performing the skills while someone observes/judges you on a litany of minute details for everything you do. But it ended up working out just fine!

And I made a new gay friend. He came and sat down next to me during the registration beforehand, and then we sat next to each other during the written, and then we got to practice together while waiting for our turn for practicals. And it worked out well, because we were partners for the practical (I performed skills on him, him on me)... it was a really bonding experience. Then at the end they faxed in all our results and the state center faxed back whether we passed or failed, so we sat nervously biting our nails together, and then found out we both passed and were jumping around hugging each other... it was great. It was also weird, because both of our non-mainstream beliefs served as something that bonded us together, him with his alternative religion and homosexuality, me with my Catholicism and being stereotyped as judgemental and uncharitable. It was weird- having two really opposing lifestyles end up being something we had in common, with regards to how other people viewed/treated us. But fascinating. Really fascinating. He was a good guy.