We all moved into the hall one by one following biometrics and a security search. We had dropped our belongings into the cloak room before lining up. I was quite nervous. I uncomfortably walked towards my seat when my number was called as I was still limping from my spoilt boots. I sat down close to the back where I was assigned a seat waiting for the exam to start. We were given several instructions on how the exam would go, but it wasn’t new to me. I mean, this was my 2nd attempt so I just sat there waiting for the exam to actually start. After a couple of minutes, we were to begin with the listening section first. This part of the exam was always the easiest for me. I was naturally a good listener so it was a breeze. At the end of that section, I was smiling. The second part was the reading section. Reading gets tougher towards the end and one has to be very careful with mixing up answers but this time it wasn’t bad at all. It was definitely going well. Before we began the writing section, I felt a funny sensation in my lower tummy. Oh yes! I needed to pee. I initially ignored the feeling. I wasn’t ready to get up with my limping gait I had unfortunately acquired. We started task 1 of the writing section and I began to feel worse. My bladder was definitely going to explode if I didn’t use the restroom soon. I finally gave in and stood up when I was allowed to. I felt better knowing I would start my task 2 with ease.
The written part of the exam was finally over. I thought severally how I had done, any mistakes or blunders, but I had to snap out of it and prepare myself for the speaking section. We left the exam hall and was taken to a different area where we waited for the speaking test to commence. I felt so alone, thinking to myself, no friends to even talk to about how the exam went. I was even getting hungry. Time passed and my slot for my speaking exam drew closer. An invigilator finally came to direct everyone in my time slot to sitting positions outside the offices of the examiners. I was now more nervous than before. I knew my english was really good and I usually speak well but I guess it was just the usual exam nerves. It was finally my turn and I went in limping of course and met with this nice white lady. She made me feel as comfortable as possible and began the exam. No matter what she asked, I always gave her an answer to the best of my ability. That finally ended and I left the room. Now the exams were finally over and I went to pick up my belongings from the cloak room.
I met with a black woman there waiting to give us our things. She looked at me and said, ‘Hi, how are you? why are you taking this exam?’ She said with a big smile on her face. I told her I needed it for my Plab exam and she was astonished. She went on to say, ‘ Whattt!! You look so young. You are a doctor? Wow. That’s really nice. I wish you all the best okay ‘ without knowing it, she made me a bit more relaxed just before I left. It was now time to leave the building and I told myself I couldn’t walk around with my faulty boot. I immediately got an idea. I went to the restroom, got out my keys and used the jagged edge to saw off the drooping part of the sole. It worked! I could walk normally again. Too bad, I had to damage the boot in the process. They were nice boots. Anyways, my judgement day was coming in 15 days and that’s all I thought about as I left the building.
Afroplab 