I am excited and a bit nervous. At the same time, I look forward to what’s ahead of me. I am taking an exam in wine.
I am one of about twenty students. We have spent hours, several nights for weeks following lectures about wine. We have tasted wines from all over the world, red, white, rosé, with and without sparkles, fortified wine and liquor. I have learned to taste and spit wine, read and studied. Now we must prove ourselves.
A sealed exam with fifty multiple-choice questions lay in front of me at the Culinary Academy.
It is so silent in the room. We each have a pencil and an eraser. Some of the students in the room have taken the exam before. They didn’t make it. I am trying not to think about that this time it may be me who fail.
The clock starts. Ready, go. I am reading the first question, wonder, wait, think. Is it a or b, or only c? Most of the questions are fine. But there are some that I am not sure about.
I think: «I will be happy if just pass», at the same time lures another thought. I want a good grade. There are only minutes left. I must decide, and with a certain uncertainty I mark the last questions. I don’t know the results until weeks later.
Ther arrive by mail from England. I open the envelope and pull out a diploma. It is graded «Pass with Distinction». That is the best grade. I am so proud and relieved. There is also a pin in the envelope and a congratulation from my teacher, Heidi Iren Hansen.
I am tempted to go on and take the Diploma course in WSET. The wine-diploma I just have received has given me new inspiration and courage. I want to learn more. I have faith that I can do it. The student in me is still there, even if it has been so long since I studied at the University and took a Bachelor.
It is never too late to go back to school and learn something new. It is a fantastic feeling of achivement and happiness.
