We had our final exam this morning and there were no real surprises. It was a 50 question cumulative test and as expected, the questions were variations of the situations and rules that appeared on previous exams. I felt good about all the questions, but we will have to wait until Monday to get the results. We also got back our ejection reports, but they were not graded, just checked and comments added. The final exam marked the last time we will do any classroom work. Monday and Tuesday, with the exception of getting our final exam scores, we will be entirely on the field.
After the final, we headed to the fields at 10am to work on some drills and I felt sharp and did well. We did that for a couple of hours and then broke for lunch. After lunch, we returned to the fields for more situationals, and that took up most of the day. I was excited to get into my situational plate reps, but I probably should have stayed in my room. It was late in the afternoon when it was our crews turn and after a long week, suffice it to say, I could have done better. Of course I knew where to go, but I was just a step behind, tired, and over thinking again. I have to admit, this was the first time I was really mad at myself for not doing well. I know the material, know what to do and where to go, but I just didn’t have it for this rep. Kudos to the evaluators for recognizing my disgust and helping me put a smile back on my face. It was good they recognized I wasn’t happy with what happened and understood what I was feeling. I think they appreciate guys working hard and they understand that we are going to make mistakes. Sometimes they need to get on people, and other times they have compassion, and I think recognizing that is an important quality when instructing. The good thing is that they helped me regain my focus and I had a good situational base rep. You always hate to end your day on a sour note, so finishing strong is important. Although I’m still angry over my plate rep, it feels better going into the off day ending on a good note.
Tomorrow is our last day off here and we welcome the rest. It’s also the first day of February and I can’t believe that we have been here almost a month. John Dowdy has rented an apartment down by the beach while he is here and Bill and I will go over there for a barbeque and watch the Super Bowl. It will be strange watching the game on east coast time instead of west coast. Hopefully it will be a good game and we won’t be back too late, 6am will come mighty early on Monday. Not much else to report today, everything was pretty much routine. I know some of the students are starting to get a little anxious about Wednesdays announcements. We all realize that there is not much time to make an impression. One of the things they told us today after our field reps was to not worry about how many jobs there might be and where you might fit in the pecking order, so to speak. What they want students to do is think that there is only one job, and for you to work hard and be that number one. I thought that was good advice, not settling for getting in thinking you might just squeak in, or being in the middle of the pack of students they accept to the evaluation course. While everyone knows that there are only a finite number of openings and not everyone will get in, I don’t think anyone who wants a job has given up. Everyone continues to work hard and that has a lot to do with the message of positivity and teamwork that continues to resonate here. I hope the best for everyone.
johnperrettaproumpireschool2015 