There’s a test we administer here at the testing center to more than half the people that walk through my door. It’s the Texas Insurance exam that people take to become licensed insurance representatives. About half the people that come in leave with a score less than 70% – a failing grade. Most of these people are back to visit me within a week or two to give it another go. Some people come back a third time and I’m sure I’ve seen people in here for a fourth before they got that 70%. Some don’t come back.

In school, a 70% is a C and a C is ‘Average’.

The first time she came in here I didn’t notice anything different. Just another lady taking another test.

The next time she came in I remembered her. I couldn’t have picked her out of a crowd but I knew she’d been in here before. I was starting to put the name to the face and this time something stood out.

This test is a 3 hour test, but this lady got 4 and a half. People with special conditions can call a dedicated number and schedule slightly altered exams. I don’t know how it works. I don’t know what proof they have to show. Their names just show up on my computer and I sign them in. She may have had extra time before, but it happens every now and then and it’s not a big deal. So that wasn’t it.

Maybe it’s because she showed up late – 15 minutes late. Maybe it’s because she didn’t seem to care. Maybe it’s because her 4 and a half somehow turned into 6. Maybe it’s because she was the only one here for 4 of those 6. Maybe it’s because that 6 left me at work until 7.

I was hoping to go see the missions of San Antonio today. They close at 5. Of any day this month, today was my best chance at making it to the missions. I checked my schedule yesterday and something caught my eye … the 4 and a half hour test at noon. Deeper searching revealed that, yes, it was her. I prepared myself for 6.

Today was going really well. I got to sleep in. Everyone was coming a bit early and finishing early too. Even though I had an afternoon test to give things were looking hopeful that I might be able to catch those missions, and if not, maybe a movie before it got too late. I almost forgot about that 6 hour test.

Noon came and went and I got my hopes up.

Then she came in – 15 minutes late. She didn’t seem like she cared. I sat her down at her desk and watched as the timer ticked away the first second of her 6 hours (and 15 minutes).
When I checked on her 90 minutes later she was almost to the end of the exam, but she had marked over a third of the questions as items for review. “No problem” I thought. “Reviewing questions is fast and then she’ll be gone. Maybe I’ll still get to see those missions!”

That was around 2. Now its 6:30. She’s been the only one here for the last 3 hours. I’m going to be here until 7. I’m not going to see the missions this month.

If I’m going to get an insurance policy I’m going to want to talk to someone that knows their stuff. He or she is going to have to know what I can and can’t do and what I am and am not covered for. I’m going to talk to them on the phone, or in person, and they’re going to have to have answers for me … right at that moment.

If I managed an insurance agency, I’d want to hire employees that knew their stuff. I want them to be able to write policies and know what was and wasn’t fair and legal practices. I’d want them to know their terminology and I’d want them to be able to perform their job quickly and accurately … not spend time looking a bunch of things up.

If someone gets 3 hours to make 70% and another gets 6 hours … are they the same 70%?

These tests don’t really serve their purpose. They don’t show who was given special treatment. They don’t show who cared enough to show up on time. When the certification is done, it doesn’t even show who got a 70% and who got a 95%. All it shows is who was ‘Average’ and who wasn’t … and it doesn’t even do that well.

There … all done. Now I can leave.

She passed: 70.67%

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