OA recap

I was in DC this past week to take my OA and the experience definitely lived up to the hype of it all.  It was a day filled with anxiety, nausea, excitement and fear.  Thankfully the end was a good one for me, but the whole process continues to be a bit of a mystery.  There were so many amazing people testing that day and I am not sure why so many of them didn't pass.  I will say that I studied my rear off and felt well prepared for all of the exercises.  The day consists of three exercises (group exercise, case management and structured interview).  You don't have to pass all three (I didn't) in order to pass the OA, but you have to end with a score of 5.25 or higher.  At the end of the day everyone is placed back in the lobby and we were called out one by one to get our results.  Everything I had read about the results stated that only the last people in the room were the ones who end up passing.  Of course this was all from other people's recollections of their experiences and not directly from anyone involved in the actual testing.  I was hoping and praying to NOT hear my named called.  After the first three people were called out (there were 22 of us testing that day) I heard my name called next.  I was thinking this couldn't be good.  I am pretty sure I was shaking at this point and I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact with the assessor who was escorting me down the hall.  I walked into a room with one officer waiting for me.  Still not looking good.  Next thing I know, two more candidates have been brought into the room with me.  Now I am thinking, "okay so surely they aren't going to tell us we all failed together, are they?"  Next four more officers came in the room and shut the door.  The original officer stated, "We are happy to be the first to tell you that you have passed the oral assessment!"  It was an unbelievable feeling at that moment.  I am pretty sure my eyes welled up a bit as each officer came over to offer me a congratulatory handshake.  After that is was another 2 hours filled with paperwork and information.  Those were the fastest two hours of the whole day and I wouldn't have cared if it lasted all night.  I think I will remember the feeling of relief/excitment/pride forever! 

Since taking the OA, the high feeling remain, though the reality of actually making it into A-100 (the officer training class) has started to fade a bit.  The registers for all the cones are quite long right now and depending what happens next fiscal year, there is a chance that my score won't be high enough to get me into an A-100 class.  Thankfully I have a long time to worry about that and many options in front of me to improve my chances.  More on that topic later....