Today I ran my first "all out" mile and a half since November...It wasn't very good. You lose a lot after being away from running for a couple months. You can follow my running activities on Runkeeper.
When I was in high school my best sport was track. I grew up on a farm and so I grew up in a small school. Of course there are pros and cons to that, but one of the greatest things for me was that I was able to be in EVERYTHING! I played football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and track. I'm not athletically built (short and a little on the puny side), so I had a hard time being the star of any team sport. Track was different. I was able to make Varsity my sophomore year in the 400m, 800m, and 4X400m.
So I'm not bad at short/middle distances. Running a 1.5 mile is a bit of a long distance run for me. I'm trying to keep it at a good pace, though, so that I can be in the 8 minute club one day.
Today I ran a 1.5 mile in 10:53. My best was a 9:51 a few months ago. My 1st goal is to get back to under 10 minutes. My ultimate goal is to be under 9 minutes...Here's to wishful thinking.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
AFOQT = Done
I took the AFOQT on a Friday morning at MEPS. This was my first time to go to MEPS and, for the most part, the experience wasn't bad. To me, the DMV is worse...
Here is an explanation of how the day went, as best as I can remember:
I decided to get the hotel that the DoD offers instead of driving so 1) I could have some time to get to know other applicants and 2) make sure that I got there on time.
I arrived at the hotel around 5:30pm, signed in, and went to my room. The company that the DoD hired to take care of us was excellent, and the room was pretty nice!
I decided it would be a good idea to go check out the area where MEPS is to get a feel for it and know where I would be going tomorrow. I wish I had shown up a lot sooner to do that. I was in horrendous traffic! It took me 30 minutes to get there when it should have only taken 5.
When I finally got there I found the parking area where I was going to have to leave my car, and what direction I needed to walk to get to MEPS so I headed back to the hotel.
I set all my stuff up in my hotel and headed down the the hotel restaurant for some dinner. The food wasn't very good, but seeing as how it was free, I can't complain. I didn't know anybody there, and since people seemed to be in conversations already, I decided to sit by myself.
As I was eating someone sat at my table (probably because there were no seats left anywhere else), and we got to talking. I found out he was an enlisted applicant who was going to MEPS for his second time to finish up some left over business because he forgot his contact lenses case last time. I was really surprised to talk to so many enlisted guys who were in their early 20s. The main thing they seemed to have in common was the fact that they had dropped out of college, for whatever reason, and were looking for a way to make a career.
After dinner I went back to my room, showered, read a little, and went to the security briefing. If it wasn't for that briefing I would have been in bed an hour and a half earlier. After the briefing I went straight to my room and got set for bed. I told myself I wouldn't study, but I broke that promise and did a few math practice problems and looked up some aviation stuff on YouTube.
By the time I was ready to go to sleep it was around 9:30pm. With a 3:30 wake up call I wasn't looking to get my normal amount of sleep.
I couldn't sleep for 2 hours.
I usually get to sleep very quickly, but not this night. Part of the reason was because I was excited about the test. Another part was because my roommate decided to turn on the TV at 10:15. Either way, I think I finally fell asleep at around 11:30.
4 hours later the wake up call was in. Both of us got up and headed down to the restaurant for breakfast. Since I wasn't taking the bus like most people I wanted to get a head start and leave the hotel at 4:20. The person in charge of us wouldn't let me (or anyone else who was driving) go quite yet (he said it would be too early). So we waited until 4:40 and all left together.
Like everyone else says, it was a lot of hurry up and wait. We were briefed and told to go to our perspective branch offices. That's when I realized something...I had forgotten my testing document! Here I was, a potential officer and I didn't have this required document. I was thinking "Great! Now they're going to send me home and I'll have to come back in a couple of weeks. How embarrassing!" Luckily the AF guy was nice and printed out a duplicate for me.
To say that I was unprepared for the formalities was an understatement. If it wasn't for the grace of God I would have forgotten my SS card, too. Thankfully, I had it in my wallet (I know not a good place to be keeping it), and was able to proceed with processing.
After we were all processed we waited for about 30 minutes and then were told to go to the testing room. From there it was easy.
Here is an explanation of how the day went, as best as I can remember:
Hotel Experience Before MEPS
I decided to get the hotel that the DoD offers instead of driving so 1) I could have some time to get to know other applicants and 2) make sure that I got there on time.
I arrived at the hotel around 5:30pm, signed in, and went to my room. The company that the DoD hired to take care of us was excellent, and the room was pretty nice!
I decided it would be a good idea to go check out the area where MEPS is to get a feel for it and know where I would be going tomorrow. I wish I had shown up a lot sooner to do that. I was in horrendous traffic! It took me 30 minutes to get there when it should have only taken 5.
When I finally got there I found the parking area where I was going to have to leave my car, and what direction I needed to walk to get to MEPS so I headed back to the hotel.
I set all my stuff up in my hotel and headed down the the hotel restaurant for some dinner. The food wasn't very good, but seeing as how it was free, I can't complain. I didn't know anybody there, and since people seemed to be in conversations already, I decided to sit by myself.
As I was eating someone sat at my table (probably because there were no seats left anywhere else), and we got to talking. I found out he was an enlisted applicant who was going to MEPS for his second time to finish up some left over business because he forgot his contact lenses case last time. I was really surprised to talk to so many enlisted guys who were in their early 20s. The main thing they seemed to have in common was the fact that they had dropped out of college, for whatever reason, and were looking for a way to make a career.
After dinner I went back to my room, showered, read a little, and went to the security briefing. If it wasn't for that briefing I would have been in bed an hour and a half earlier. After the briefing I went straight to my room and got set for bed. I told myself I wouldn't study, but I broke that promise and did a few math practice problems and looked up some aviation stuff on YouTube.
By the time I was ready to go to sleep it was around 9:30pm. With a 3:30 wake up call I wasn't looking to get my normal amount of sleep.
I couldn't sleep for 2 hours.
I usually get to sleep very quickly, but not this night. Part of the reason was because I was excited about the test. Another part was because my roommate decided to turn on the TV at 10:15. Either way, I think I finally fell asleep at around 11:30.
4 hours later the wake up call was in. Both of us got up and headed down to the restaurant for breakfast. Since I wasn't taking the bus like most people I wanted to get a head start and leave the hotel at 4:20. The person in charge of us wouldn't let me (or anyone else who was driving) go quite yet (he said it would be too early). So we waited until 4:40 and all left together.
At MEPS
Like everyone else says, it was a lot of hurry up and wait. We were briefed and told to go to our perspective branch offices. That's when I realized something...I had forgotten my testing document! Here I was, a potential officer and I didn't have this required document. I was thinking "Great! Now they're going to send me home and I'll have to come back in a couple of weeks. How embarrassing!" Luckily the AF guy was nice and printed out a duplicate for me.
To say that I was unprepared for the formalities was an understatement. If it wasn't for the grace of God I would have forgotten my SS card, too. Thankfully, I had it in my wallet (I know not a good place to be keeping it), and was able to proceed with processing.
After we were all processed we waited for about 30 minutes and then were told to go to the testing room. From there it was easy.
The Test
Like I said before, I had been studying for this test for about 3 months. I feel like an idiot compared to all the 99ers on the message boards because I still did not feel comfortable with all the concepts of the test. The last practice test I took out of Barron's was excellent, so I was feeling pretty confident about this.
There were 5 of us total who were taking the test: 3 teachers (me included), an accountant, and a college student. If you are reading this you probably won't have this problem, but, for your own sake, don't be like the college student! When we had a break and were all talking about the test he said "Wrong answers count against you, right? 'Cause I left about half of my answers blank."
Of course, those kind of test takers are the ones that help those of us who study make higher percentages...
Anyway, here is how the test went for me:
Anyway, here is how the test went for me:
The entire test was very similar to the practice tests. The Arco/Peterson and Barron's books are relatively more difficult on both math and verbal, in my opinion. Without going into much detail about the test itself I will give you an overview of how I felt I did and break down each section:
Overall I feel like my most disappointing sections were Math Knowledge and Aviation. I studied the most on Arithmetic Reasoning and Aviation only to do bad on MK and AV...
Verbal Analogies (VA): Much better than I have felt about any verbal section in a long time. I felt like the words were much easier and I think I only guessed on a couple. I had plenty of time left over to check 4 or 5 answers.
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR): No questions really exploited my weak area (which was multi-step word problems). The word problems they did have were not too intensive. I probably only guessed on a couple of these as well. I also had a little bit of time left over to check my other answers. I might have missed 2 or 3 in this section.
Word Knowledge (WK): I actually knew many of these words! I was looking to bomb this particular section of the test. I'm quite sure that I didn't. I probably guessed on 2 or 3 in this section. I didn't have a whole lot of time to look over but 1 or 2 problems. I probably missed 2 or 3 in this section.
Math Knowledge (MK): I thought I would do very well on this one, but I feel like I didn't do my best. I had trouble with about 6 problems, and I think I guessed on about 4 of those. After I started having trouble with a couple of them I started to get flustered (which is what they are looking to see if you do, and why the test are timed). I was mad at myself for not being able to nail that section. I missed anywhere from 2-4 in this section.
Instrument Comp. (IC): This was always an easy section for me on all the practice tests. This test was no different. The drawings were acceptable and not bad. The only hard part is making sure you don't confuse the front for being the back. The inlets' color (or shade) helped me out. I had enough time to go over almost all the questions to review. I don't think I missed any in this section.
Block Counting (BC): I was slightly disappointed with myself in this test. I answered all the questions with a few (10-15) seconds to spare, but it felt a little more difficult than when I took the practice tests. I just attribute it to ACTUAL test anxiety. I might have missed one in this section.
Table Reading (TR): I was slightly disappointed in myself with this test as well. In all but my first practice test I scored a 100% on this test and always finished with at least 5 seconds left. This time I did not...I spent too much time on each question as was over confident. The last 5-6 were Christmas Treed...
Science (SC): I was pleasantly surprised with how I think I did on this test. I knew at least a little bit about every question. I think I missed up to 2 or 3.
Aviation (AV): Very disappointed in myself. I studied EVERYTHING I could for this test without actually getting in a plane. I had 0 flight experience so I really wanted to do well on this thing...I think I did OK. Out of the 20 questions there were 5 I had to go back and think about. Of those 5 there were 3 I was familiar with the concept they were talking about, but failed to understand the specifics of the answer. I know I missed a least 1 of those questions. The other 2 I had no idea what they were talking about, but I know I guessed right for at least one of those. At most I missed 4 of these questions.
Rotating Blocks (RB): This one was always too easy for me. I had time to go back and look over every single question very thoroughly. I don't think I missed any of these.
Hidden Figures (HF): This one was always hard for me. I guessed on about 3 or 4 questions. I probably missed as much.
Self Dis. Inventory: Long and Boring.
We'll see how accurate my memory was when I get my scores back. My goal was to get at least 85s across the board, but I highly doubt that now. I will consider retesting if I get anything in the low 70s (except maybe Verbal). I feel like I did the best I could, and in order for me to get any significant gains in my score I would have to take some flight classes and maybe some math tutoring.
My only advice is to control what you can control and do your absolute best. For me, that was studying for 3 months. It was hard to balance being a father, husband, teacher, and extreme studier, but I did it in college and I know I'm going to have to do it in the future (if I get selected). Bottom Line: Do what you need to do to get the job done and ace that beast of a test.
Overall I feel like my most disappointing sections were Math Knowledge and Aviation. I studied the most on Arithmetic Reasoning and Aviation only to do bad on MK and AV...
Verbal Analogies (VA): Much better than I have felt about any verbal section in a long time. I felt like the words were much easier and I think I only guessed on a couple. I had plenty of time left over to check 4 or 5 answers.
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR): No questions really exploited my weak area (which was multi-step word problems). The word problems they did have were not too intensive. I probably only guessed on a couple of these as well. I also had a little bit of time left over to check my other answers. I might have missed 2 or 3 in this section.
Word Knowledge (WK): I actually knew many of these words! I was looking to bomb this particular section of the test. I'm quite sure that I didn't. I probably guessed on 2 or 3 in this section. I didn't have a whole lot of time to look over but 1 or 2 problems. I probably missed 2 or 3 in this section.
Math Knowledge (MK): I thought I would do very well on this one, but I feel like I didn't do my best. I had trouble with about 6 problems, and I think I guessed on about 4 of those. After I started having trouble with a couple of them I started to get flustered (which is what they are looking to see if you do, and why the test are timed). I was mad at myself for not being able to nail that section. I missed anywhere from 2-4 in this section.
Instrument Comp. (IC): This was always an easy section for me on all the practice tests. This test was no different. The drawings were acceptable and not bad. The only hard part is making sure you don't confuse the front for being the back. The inlets' color (or shade) helped me out. I had enough time to go over almost all the questions to review. I don't think I missed any in this section.
Block Counting (BC): I was slightly disappointed with myself in this test. I answered all the questions with a few (10-15) seconds to spare, but it felt a little more difficult than when I took the practice tests. I just attribute it to ACTUAL test anxiety. I might have missed one in this section.
Table Reading (TR): I was slightly disappointed in myself with this test as well. In all but my first practice test I scored a 100% on this test and always finished with at least 5 seconds left. This time I did not...I spent too much time on each question as was over confident. The last 5-6 were Christmas Treed...
Science (SC): I was pleasantly surprised with how I think I did on this test. I knew at least a little bit about every question. I think I missed up to 2 or 3.
Aviation (AV): Very disappointed in myself. I studied EVERYTHING I could for this test without actually getting in a plane. I had 0 flight experience so I really wanted to do well on this thing...I think I did OK. Out of the 20 questions there were 5 I had to go back and think about. Of those 5 there were 3 I was familiar with the concept they were talking about, but failed to understand the specifics of the answer. I know I missed a least 1 of those questions. The other 2 I had no idea what they were talking about, but I know I guessed right for at least one of those. At most I missed 4 of these questions.
Rotating Blocks (RB): This one was always too easy for me. I had time to go back and look over every single question very thoroughly. I don't think I missed any of these.
Hidden Figures (HF): This one was always hard for me. I guessed on about 3 or 4 questions. I probably missed as much.
Self Dis. Inventory: Long and Boring.
We'll see how accurate my memory was when I get my scores back. My goal was to get at least 85s across the board, but I highly doubt that now. I will consider retesting if I get anything in the low 70s (except maybe Verbal). I feel like I did the best I could, and in order for me to get any significant gains in my score I would have to take some flight classes and maybe some math tutoring.
My only advice is to control what you can control and do your absolute best. For me, that was studying for 3 months. It was hard to balance being a father, husband, teacher, and extreme studier, but I did it in college and I know I'm going to have to do it in the future (if I get selected). Bottom Line: Do what you need to do to get the job done and ace that beast of a test.
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