Brick walls are meant to stop other people

My phone started buzzing during a meeting with my manager yesterday. The chair of the Modern Languages department at the Peralta Colleges was calling to express his concern about my Spanish skills. He asked that I email him so that we might discuss my ability to continue in Spanish 1B. On the last day, of course, before I was enrolled officially.

I wrote him back, doing my best to explain that I'm not every other kid asking to skip a class. I already have a college degree. I can do this. I know I can do this.

He wants me to take a placement test, but getting to any of the Peralta colleges during normal school hours is bordering on impossible considering I already leave work early three days a week to take these classes. I hoping he'll let me use the first test of the class instead, which gives me about a week and a half to prove that I have the first five months of Spanish at my command.

If I were anyone else, I might accept his judgement that studying on one's own is "troublesome," but I know I can do this. I know I will be speaking Spanish with the best of them if I make it through to the end of the semester. I just need to prove that I can do it by a week from Monday. I don't have time to be terrified.

Necesito estudiar. Tengo que tener éxito.