Meet my good friend, who I have never met, Miss Bethany Strang! Bethany has a great personality and love of music and people that I really enjoy! Please read her story and feel free to ask questions in the comment section… 🙂
My name is Bethany Strang and I am 19 years old. I live in the beautiful state of Oregon on a small farm with my family of nine. Music is a huge part of my life and I play and teach the violin and piano. I also sing in a quartet with my siblings. There are quite a few things that I enjoy doing such as visiting with friends (I’m super social!), working with the diary goats on our farm, coming up with ideas, and anything active. My hobbies would include computers, puns and jokes, pranks, watching movies with my family, cooking, filmmaking, and talking with people.
I am a Christian and I love the Lord! My goal is to honor God and to fulfill His plan for my life. I want to be a light in this dark world and share the gospel to the lost.
Have you graduated from college?
No.
Where are you in your studies? What are you studying and from what college?
I CLEPed my first test on College Mathematics and hope to do the Natural Science CLEP soon. I’m studying on my own, from home.
Did/are you earning a degree through Distance Learning?
Right now I’m not totally sure if I really need to get a degree… However, if I do get a degree, it would be in Music or Communications.
Which CLEP exams have you taken?
I have only done one (so far!) and it was College Mathematics.
What was your main reason for taking the CLEP exam instead of the course?
I had done all the higher mathematics already and didn’t feel the need to repeat it in a course. I had to learn some new things that were not covered in what I had already done, but it wasn’t too difficult.
Which CLEP is your favorite (to date)?
Being that I have only taken one test, it would have to be the College Mathematics test!
On which CLEP have you scored the highest?
Again, I don’t have any other test to choose from, so by default, I scored highest on my math CLEP.
Do you have a humorous, bad, or interesting test memory?
Actually yes, I have a very humorous story.
Since I had never taken a CLEP test before, I wasn’t sure I knew what to expect. Yes, I had taken practice tests (lots of them!), but doing the “real thing” just seemed like uncharted waters. I worked like crazy the night before getting my information together, trying to convince myself that I would pass, asking people to pray for me, and going to bed past eleven. The next morning I felt excited and also a little apprehensive because I was starting out in new territory. After walking around the campus, checking in, checking on, checking up—whatever else you have to do!—I settled down to take my test. I am a very focused person, so for that hour and a half, I was in my “intense mode”. When I finally finished up, my score flashed up on the screen. That’s when I realized I didn’t know what the passing score really was! Yes, I knew that you have to get at least 50%, but when I saw a score in the 50ies, I wasn’t sure if I passed or not. I thought I had, but I just wasn’t certain! Believe me, you want to be certain that you passed! The conclusion of my time was spent on taking their surveys and signing out of the computer. And I still didn’t know if I passed or not. I stood up, stretched, and walked out of the testing room. The lady behind the desk was printing out my papers. She smiled at me and said, “How did it go?” I answered, “It went well! Um…” and a bit sheepishly I added, “Did I pass?” At that moment she flipped my paper across the counter to me and said, “Yes, you did!” I was overjoyed and couldn’t resist a triumphant, “YES!”
What is your favorite resource to use for test prep and study?
I’m assuming that there are going to be lots different resources for different tests. For me, I did a lot of internet research to find practice tests (doing lots practice tests are the way to go!). I also borrowed a stack of textbooks from my friend, but only ended up using this one called “Review for the CELP General College Mathematics” by Comex Systems, Inc. It was extremely helpful, explained everything well, and gave many problems to work through as well as having a practice test in the back.
How many hours a day did/do you typically devote to test prep?
I would say about an hour to two and a half hours. Initially I had studied and wanted to take the CLEP by a certain date, but had to postpone due to illness and too much stuff going on in my schedule. When I came back to it about a month or two later, I remember a lot, but still had to work a bit. As the day got closer, I was studying longer.
Would you recommend testing out of college classes exams to anyone? Why or why not?
I would recommend it. The first two years of college are repeating the last two years of highschool. Why would you want to spend so much time on things you have already done? Skip the classes and take the tests. You will have more time to dedicate to the things you really want to do. Not only is it cheaper, but also it is more efficient. Just to make things clear, there might be some circumstances where you might want/need to take some classes in college, so I’m not saying that you never should take a college class!
How do you plan to implement your degree into your life, after graduation?
As I mentioned in my Bio, music is a huge part of my life so I would say that a degree in that area would be helpful for teaching and such. I don’t feel like a degree is necessarily necessary (as I like to say), but some people need them and it is always good to further your learning by CLEPing tests even if you don’t get a degree. If I didn’t go the music route, I would choose the Communications degree because I am involved with a lot of writing projects, speaking, and internet communication. Speaking out against abortion is something I would really want to do more and that degree could come in helpful.
I’m not totally decided yet, but I still have a lot of time in front of me to make these plans certain; sometimes you just have to cross those bridges when you come to them and most importantly, be in prayer about where God wants you to be.