I've invested(yes invested, not wasted as some might argue) over a year studying for the GRE - I still remember the day when I took it for the first time, I was calm, had the proclivity that I had all year to study for it, and went in with the affirmation that I will be taking it again at one point or the other; but a lot has changed and I summarize my learning as following:
- Your spirit will break before your body(as Bane from Batman said) - You will feel tired, frustrated and emotional on the days you don't make any progress; most of this will be psychological
- Your vocabulary will surpass the average of individuals you work with for the most part - You will notice this as you write emails at work; albeit, this will rely heavily on how much of an avid reader you are. If you don't read quality journalism everyday, you will forget the words you learned
- If you're learning another language, you will immediately notice the overlap and realize the extent to which English is infested with words from other language
- You will realize the difference between abstract thinking and logical thinking - being a math major, it was shocking to notice that I performed poorly in the quantitative section for the first few times since I was taking everything with a theoretical bent
- Your ability to sit still for hours will skyrocket - a feat almost impossible to achieve in this ADD inducing, social media filled world
- You will know fundamental geometry, algebra and mathematical series like the back of your hand - although the value of this is dubitable, this might prove to be useful if you work in a quantitative field
On the downside:
- You will find it much easier to scrutinize small grammatical errors in email other people write at work - which will be a pet peeve
- You will become a pedant - yes, I just did it. People will often say - 'speak English'
Although it hasn't been fun living like a hermit for the past year - I'm sure the effort will pay dividends eventually. As always, I'm confident that the best years aren't behind us, but ahead of us.
If you're making the same effort - Bonne-chance!
