After all the classes and the trip to Birmingham, there was one more task I had to complete before ‘officially’[1]. becoming a meteorologist. It was a comprehensive, 100 question, two hour test covering all 17 subjects from Mississippi State!
I had been led to believe it was a piece of cake. The test ‘opened’ yesterday morning, but I wouldn’t have the two hours necessary until after work was done. Last night, with time on my side, I still did everything I could to put off taking it.
I finally began at 3:00 AM. By 3:01, I was breaking out in a sweat. There were very specific questions about little bits of minutiae from the first semester.
What was the Köppen classification for a part of Europe? And the answer was in Köppen’s two letter abbreviations. Oh my God!
Any time you’re quizzed on something, and the words used have umlauts, like “ö”, you know you’re in trouble.
I finished the test in 1:45 and spent the next 15 minutes, right up until there were 30 seconds left, checking my answers. I went to sleep not knowing if I got my 80% necessary to pass.
I passed with an 89%. I am told 90% of the students pass this on the first try, but I have my doubts. It was really hard and very wide ranging. There was no way to study for it – other than taking three years of school over again.
So, I’m now 100% finished. I am a meteorologist. My next task is to apply for the AMS Broadcast Seal of Approval. That journey starts later this week.
[1] – There is actually no official criteria. I could have called myself a meteorologist years ago. Commonly, the term refers to people who have passed a concentrated course of study. I respect that and have waited. The dictionary is much more forgiving. It says, ” One who studies meteorology. One who reports and forecasts weather conditions.”
Congratulations! I always thought you were a meteorologist but now it’s official and everybody knows.