By: Scott Larson
slarson@kcautv.com
If you're planning on getting your GED this year, sooner is definitely better than later. The format of the GED testing is changing and that means if you haven't taken and passed all five tests by the end of this year, you'll need to start all over again.
Sofia Alavez is currently working hard toward earning her GED on the campus of Western Iowa Tech Community College. But she's not alone in taking on the test. Her husband, William, has already passed four of the five exams which make up the test – and he's taking the last one on Friday.
Sofia says William's advice is invaluable. "I get frustrated, but that's when he's like calm down...take a breather. It's not as hard as I think it is. I'm just making it harder in my head and I'm just like stressing out too much. But it's really not that hard if you just sit there and breathe and...just do it."
In fact, many are now rushing to have the exam completed by the end of the year. That's because the test is going from paper and pencil to digital. The American Council on Education refreshes the GED every ten years and if all five of the current tests are not completed, students are back at square one next year.
Students may be stressing the changes, but faculty members say the updates will help them out. Lily Bonilla, Western Iowa Tech's GED Coordinator, says, "With the 2002 series, everything is on paper and we have to fill out the form by hand and bubble every answer. And that's something where using the computer, we no longer have to do. So paperwork–wise, it's a lot easier."
And while the deadline is playing some factor in motivating William and Sofia, they say what's most important is setting a good example for their children. Sofia says, "Benefits. It's for a better future, you know? We want to be role models for our kids to want to go to school and you know, to not have to do this when they get older. And get good jobs."
Western Iowa Tech will continue holding the GED Training Classes through Thanksgiving Day which they're using as a deadline. They will then transition to the new test next January.
