Finally.

The day has come. It was test day.

I had a few hours to myself before it was time to take the biggest test of my life. Knowing my test wasn't until 8:00am, I decided to wake up four hours earlier to get beautified for the moment. I made myself some breakfast with a cup of coffee and roamed through Pinterest for a while.

When the time hit 6:00am, it was time to start driving. When I got into the car, I knew that this was it. This was the moment of either making it or breaking it. I was so anxious that I started to feel palpitations. My anxiety was through the roof and all these negative thoughts came through my head. But I started to think and breathe more effectively. I couldn't let my anxiety run me over. I arrived at the testing center and underwent the whole process of signing in. Once they called me to the back room to start my test, I got really nervous. I was so ready to get this test over with.

The test was going well in the beginning until the harder questions came rolling in. The harder they got, the more nervous I became. I was hoping to stop at question 75, but it kept going to 76, then 77, 78.. and then I found myself at 150. I knew that this test might go all the way to the end. Surely enough, my test cuts off at 265 questions. It took 3.5 hours to finish my test! I left the building in shock and disappointment. Despite my exhaustion, I still had enough energy to stress over it. I'm thinking to myself, "I must've done so terrible that PearsonVue had to give me 265 questions to figure out if I'm passing or not." I knew for sure I failed the exam!

I immediately called my mom and started crying while driving home. I told her that I didn't know if I passed. But with good faith and a lot of prayers, I calmed myself with positivity. I told myself, "Be patient. Quick results will be available 48 hours. You'll know soon enough." I waited a few hours , but I couldn't help myself... I had to do the PearsonVue Trick. I felt some relief when PearsonVue wouldn't take my payment and I got the "good" pop-up message. I did the PearsonVue trick a few more times until I felt better. To add to the relief, I googled the subject matter "265 questions on NCLEX" and I was happy to read about a lot of students who passed at 265 questions. Later on the night, I prayed and read my prayer letters over and over again. The outlook was looking great or at least promising, but I was not going to be satisfied until I got the actual results. So I let the days pass by.

It was finally Sunday. I knew my 48-hour wait would be done once the clock hit 11:30am. Me and my family went to church and continued to pray. Around 10:30, the test results were available. My heart rate shoot up because I didn't think the quick results would be so early. I paid PearsonVue.. and finally I found out I passed!

A quick sense of happiness and relief came over me. My family is so excited to hear the news and they celebrated this moment with me. I could not believe that I finally conquered the biggest obstacle of my career. After all the stress from nursing school and feeling hopeless, I can finally say that I am officially done with nursing school! I am now Dominique L. Tecson, RN!

If you're reading this article, I'm assuming that you're also trying to find some kind of hope that you passed after taking a 265-question exam. I know you're stressing out and anxious at this moment, but with prayers and good faith, you will pass! I hope that after hearing my NCLEX experience, you will find that sense of relief that even with 265 questions, you can pass too!

Don't let 265 questions get to you! Train yourself to taken the whole exam and be confident that you will pass!

Stay positive! You will make it through!