Panic at the testing center

I'm in the middle of applying for my license to practice medicine in Texas. I already have my provisional license to practice as a resident, but now it's time to get the full meal deal. My wallet is over in the corner crying again as it has already cost me over $1000 so far, but it will be worth it in the end. Among the many hoops through which I have to jump is taking the medical jurisprudence exam. It's 50 questions in 90 minutes, and we can only miss 12 to pass. I studied for it a little during PICU night float over the last 2 weeks, but since I didn't really have enough time, I devoted the first day of my vacation (Monday) to hitting the books. By the time I left to take the test Tuesday morning, I felt decent about the test and just wanted to get it over!

The testing center was about 30 minutes away from our house, so I left at 7 AM to make sure I had plenty of time to sign in before the 8 AM exam. In order to take the test, I needed to show my scheduling permit from the board as well as two forms of ID that both had my signature. As I was sitting in the waiting area getting ready to check in, I peeked into my purse again. Permit? Check. Driver's license? Check. Passport? Check. Since I recently got my passport with my new name and photo back in the mail, I decided to look again and the picture and see how much it didn't look like me.

To my horror, the face in the picture looked like me ... nine years ago. I had grabbed the wrong passport! My old passport has my maiden name on it, and since my new IDs don't include that name, I knew I couldn't use the passport to prove my identity. I frantically began to look through my wallet, and to my dismay, not a single credit card was signed. As fate would have it, I only had a pencil in my purse, so I couldn't even sign a card. I could not believe this was happening to me, little Mrs. Prepared!

I began to pray for anything that would help me out. A few minutes later, I noticed that the man sitting next to me was holding an electrical book and possibly looked like some kind of engineer. I asked if he happened to have a pen I could borrow, and by a miracle, he did! I quickly signed the back of my debit card that has my photo on it and profusely thanked him. Five minutes later, I was called to the front and signed in with no trouble!

I was a little worried about the effects of the morning on my exam, but I had nothing to worry about. I passed with flying colors. I've jumped yet another hurdle in my path towards practicing on my own! Now my vacation can really begin.