January 9th, the weekend Georgia had the first snow and laid out sheets of ice on all the roads, was the day I was scheduled to take the GACE Basic Skills portion and the English portion. That morning, when Oscar and I woke up, I couldn’t even leave our driveway, much less our street, and Oscar wasn’t comfortable with me driving to take the test with all the potential icy roads Saturday morning, because Georgians don’t know how to drive in snow or ice. They just don’t. And if for some reason I got out on the road and got into even a mild fender-bender and something happened to my baby, I’d never forgive myself. So, I didn’t go. I felt terribly guilty all day, but I took some comfort in knowing I wasn’t putting the baby in any kind of danger.
Fast-forward a few days, to when I sent the GACE Customer Service reps a letter explaining that I wasn’t able to go anywhere due to the inclement weather, and requesting a voucher to re-test. They responded, saying that my first letter didn’t give enough reason to qualify for a voucher, and, if I felt my circumstances were extenuating,to send a letter with documentation. So I sent another letter, complete with account information from my OB, showing I had just gone in for a pregnancy checkup just two days before the test date, and that my doctor wouldn’t have approved of me traveling on icy roads.
I got my second letter from them Friday, which states that they refuse to give me a refund or even let me reschedule unless I had a medical emergency or a death in the family, which I’d have to prove with a doctor’s note or an obituary. This infuriated me, because I felt (and still feel) like they’re being completely unreasonable.
I called this afternoon and spoke to a customer service rep who also gave me bad news. She pulled up my file and told me once again, that I was not eligible to reschedule the test, that the only way I can take it is to sign up again and fork out another $250 for both tests, and then proceeded to explain to me that my previous $250 had already been spent to “create an exam for me, to hire staff, to ship the exam from the site, to pay the proctors, etc.” She then explained to me where on the GACE site I could find this “refund policy” and told me to have a nice day. Cue incessant grumbling here.
So now, I don’t really know what to do. I was chatting with my friend Nadia, and I told her that I might go back to school “out of spite,” and get my Master’s. To which she pointed out, that going back to school wasn’t spiteful, and that “you’d rather enjoy it, and would find a reason to go back to school anyway.” Touché, my dear friend. She also pointed out that going back to school might be a better option anyway, because 1.) I would get certified that way, 2.) I’d have a higher degree, thus, more money, and 3.) (sadly) It may be another year or two before more teaching positions open up.
On the flip side, I’ve got a few Literally Efficient clients in the works, and I have 4 upcoming Pure Romance parties in March. Oh, and that whole building-a-family thing.
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