- Discovering Your Personal Study Habits
- Becoming Familiar with the GED Format
- Introducing Your Study Partner, Jeremy Smith
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Introducing Your Study Partner, Jeremy Smith
Maybe you are lucky and have someone to study with as you prepare for the GED. But even if you are going it alone, you’ll find within the pages of this book a "virtual" test partner, and he’d like to introduce himself now.
"Jeremy Smith" isn’t a real person, but is nevertheless a composite of a real-world GED examinee. This special element serves two purposes:
To give you a realistic example of how someone might prepare for the GED
To provide you—even if only within the pages of this book—a "study partner" as you work through the various practice quizzes and full-length sample exam
As you work through the book, watch for updates on Jeremy’s progress. You can’t talk to Jeremy, of course, but you might find similarities between your situation and his so that you can draw inspiration from how he deals with the challenges of studying for the GED, and in the process perhaps feel not quite so alone in your own preparation.
For this chapter’s entry, we find Jeremy just beginning his study for the GED, and working through some of the challenges he is expecting to face as prepares for test day.
Jeremy Smith Case Study: Preparing for the GED
I think it was last week, when I was talking with my best friend Kim that I finally decided to get serious about preparing for the GED and to register for a date to take it. I’ve been thinking about it for about 6 months, but something always got in the way. Kim convinced me that there will never be a perfect time to study for and take it, and if I waited for that perfect time—well, I’d wait forever.
So, earlier this morning on my way home from work (I work nights), I stopped off at the bookstore and picked up a copy of GED Exam Cram. It looks like a very involved book, and all those math questions make me nervous (I was never very good at math). But in looking through it more closely, the book is divided up into parts so I think if I take one section at a time, I can handle it. Although I’ve got a few months before my test date, I already know I’ll need to study a little bit every day if I really want to be prepared.
Studying every day is something else that’s making me nervous. My sister is still recovering from her surgery and with my Mom unable to work, my little brother and sister need someone to look after them, and that person would be me. They’re great kids, but they are—how should I put this—very noisy kids! My little brother, Seth, likes to sneak up behind me and scream as loud as he can. I admit, it can be funny sometimes because he really surprises me. But I can imagine sitting at the table, trying to study, and suddenly jumping out of my skin because he’s crept in without my noticing and then lets out one of his patented yells. And although my little sister is not a screamer, she’s still a typical 6-year-old and doesn’t walk anywhere—she runs!
Anyway, I’m sure I will figure out a way to deal with them, but then there’s my job, too. Working third shift means I have to sleep during the day. Then when the kids get home from school is when I’m waking up so I can feed them dinner, visit with them and the rest of my family, and get ready for work. With my schedule, it’s going to be difficult to find time to study, but I’ve already started thinking that I can take my book with me to the job and study during breaks. And, I can probably lose an hour of sleep each day and get up an extra hour before my brother and sister get home so I can use that time to study. It’s definitely going to take some adjustment in my schedule, but I’ve told my family and my friends how serious I am about studying, and they’ve already started to encourage me.
Well, it’s nearly time for me to go to work. I’m really tired tonight and thought about just taking my book to work with me tomorrow. But my sister asked me if I was going to start working through it today, even if I only read through the introduction. I’m sure she’d understand if I told her I was tired, but I know she wants me to succeed and I don’t want to disappoint her. So I guess I’ll take the book with me—no better time than the present to start preparing. Besides, the next few months will fly by and before I know it tomorrow won’t be just another day, but it will be test day. Ugh. That makes me nervous again just thinking about it, but I know I can do it. I don’t like to start things I can’t finish, and I wouldn’t have bought that book if I didn’t really think I could pass the test. So, rather than worry and put off studying, I’ll go ahead and start tonight!