Everything has been taken out of my hands for now. My first (and hopefully only) attempt at the CAOP exam is over.
Despite my earlier bravado, I ended up getting myself so nervous the night before the CAOP exam that I couldn't sleep. I must have eventually fallen asleep around 2 o'clock, just to woken by my alarm at 4:45. The train journey up to London fortunately went without a hitch, although my stomach was churning the whole way there. There were meant to be 8 people sitting the exam, but there was one no show, which I found surprising considering the cost of the whole process. Anyway, we were led up to the examination room in relative silence, while B waved me off and wished me good luck. I still hadn't decided whether I should do the short answer question first, or leave it until the end. After reading it I decided to leave it until the end. The first 9 questions were the calculations, and I didn't need half the equations I had learnt, there were no pharmacokinetic questions, or suppository formulations in sight. Before starting the exam I had worked out that there was less than 2 minutes to do each question, I had a mild panic attack when I realised I had got to question 4 and 15 minutes had already passed. I managed to calm myself by reminding myself that there should be some more straight forward questions later in the paper. There wasn't. Nearly all the questions I had to look up the answer in at least one of the allowed texts, even if it was just to clarify between two possible answers. All this obviously takes more time. With just under half an hour to spare I finished all the MCQs and moved on to the short answer question. The scenario was as follows: the daughter-in-law of a diabetic old man had come into my pharmacy to buy some wart remover and antiseptic solution for his foot. My answer basically consisted of a letter telling the man I would not sell him the products, and that he should see his doctor or chiropodist. Leaving me to wonder how I could include enough information in that to actually gain any marks. I managed to finish the paper in time, but I was left with no time to go over and check my answers, leaving me with a very unsettled feeling. I was so worried about how well or badly I had done, I made a conscious decision to leave the examination centre without talking to anyone, as I didn't need them adding to my fears. The results should be posted out in 4 weeks, and there is nothing more I can do about it until then, so at least I can relax and take my mind off the whole episode.
After the exam I met up with B again and we went to watch Dreamboats and Petticoats at the playhouse theatre on Northumberland avenue. It wasn't the most enthralling thing I had ever seen, but it was fun and a necessary distraction from the previous 3 hours. Also it was the only show we hadn't seen with a matinee performance! We then went for dinner in Soho with our friend Graham. Before graham arrived, B was on the Internet discussing the potential for our second house in Indonesia. This has then lead to a completely new plan for getting to Australia. Unfortunately it means we will no longer be going via south America, instead we will spend the month and a half travelling around some of the countries in south east Asia we haven't been to, and the rest of the time, sorting out the house in Indonesia. One benefit of this option is that it will work out a lot cheaper for us.
We got home from London at around 10:30 and waiting on the doorstep was a brown envelope addressed to B. Inside was the confirmation that B's request for British citizenship had been accepted. He is now one ceremony away from having dual nationality, and with plenty of time left to organise getting him a British passport.
It is amazing how much can happen in 24 hours.
Adam
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