Achievement unlocked!

One of the requirements for my Associate's degree is a basic computer literacy class.  Fortunately, there's an alternative.  There's a company that, for a consideration (of course), offers a 3-part IC3 certification exam.  I arranged to take the Computing Fundamentals exam last week and passed it with very little study.  Because the person who proctors the tests arranged it on such short notice, all I really had time to do was download a study guide, take the 2 practice exams, review the results, and cross my fingers.  All the computer classes I had to take for work stood me in pretty good stead; I passed on my first attempt.  (A good thing, as you have to buy a voucher for each attempt.  Not something that'll break the bank, but they add up.)

I was scheduled to take both the Living Online and Key Applications exams this afternoon.  Again, not much time to study, as I had trouble accessing the online materials associated with the study guide.  I spent the morning working through the LO practice tests, then started working through the KA study guide after lunch.  I finally got the online practice materials downloaded, but with only barely enough time to speed through one of the two KA practice tests before I had to report to the testing center.  As I rather expected, I finished the LO test with a comfortable amount of time to spare.  (They allow 50 minutes for a 45-question exam.)  The KA test was the one I was not at all sure I'd pass on the first attempt.  I was still puzzling out a couple of questions when my time expired, so I thought for sure I'd be retaking it.  Not so!  To my relief, I passed, and by a comfortable margin.  In fact, to my surprise, that was the exam on which I scored the highest.

I've now sent in a copy of my "transcript" for the college to evaluate and certify that this covers their computer literacy requirement.  That'll free up 3 credit hours for something I really want to take, or maybe I'll just slack off next semester and take only 4 classes instead of 5.  (Not likely - too many things I want to take, and it's so much cheaper at the community college than at university!)