I Passed!

After a weekend (and a Monday morning) of study and review, I went to the Marion Ivy Tech campus on I-69 and S.R. 18, where I took my second Mac OS X Support Essentials 10.6 Exam. [→] And, at long last, I passed that examination. Apple confirmed it the next day, so I have become an Apple Certified Support Professional.

I have been wanting this for a long time. I have taken the Support Essentials twice before (once for Mac OS X 10.5 and once for 10.6). But, until yesterday, I had not been able to do enough correct answers to breach the 70% mark, let alone the 73% required to pass. But yesterday, I passed the test with a 77.23%.

I cannot go into detail about the test itself (I am forbidden by Apple from doing so), but I can tell why it was so hard to pass. I studied the official Support Essentials guide from Peachtree Press and worked out its questions. But the questions do not cover more esoteric problems, which I do not encounter in working on the Macs at the Bracken, Ball State's main library.

Anyway, I had wanted the ASCP certification to prove that my five years of work on Macs has not been in vain. Of course, I will have to keep working on it, especially if I would like to go to the next level, to be an Apple Certified Technical Coordinator after passing the Mac OS X Server Essentials exam. I keep thinking of taking a class in Mac OS X Server, but the nearest place offering it is in Cincinnati, and it costs $2000 for a four-day class. Which was why I opted for self-paced study, which for me took a long time.

My boss has been notified. Once I get copies of the ASCP certificate, I can hand in one of those, the receipt for the test fee, and the notification of exam results, so that I can be compensated for my test fee.

The next day I went to my dentist to get my teeth cleaned — and to fix that broken tooth. My dentist found that the remaining three quarters of my teeth are thick enough, that I do not need a crown. So I got an enlarged filling, shaped into the crown of my molar and held by a pin. It is just as durable as a crown. I am sure that will make my insurance happy (fillers are cheaper than crowns).